The inducible expression of the long pentraxin PTX3 in osteoblast-like MC 3T3-E1 cells by E. coli lipopolysaccharide

In this study, we have found that Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could induce the expression of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) mRNA in osteoblast-like cells (MC 3T3-E1) dose dependently. The relation between this expression and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) was also analyzed. The results show that the mRNA expression of PTX3 was related to that of ALP. It was also related to the mRNA expression of ERK-1 and p38 but not JNK-1 and NF-κB. These results suggest that ERK-1 and p38 are involved in the regulation of PTX3 expression and PTX3 promotes the differentiation of MC 3T3-E1 cells in response to LPS.