Enhancing effect of poly( -lactide) on the differentiation of mouse osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells

Poly( -lactide) (PLLA) has bioabsorbability and biocompatibility, and it is used as biodegradable screws, pins and plates for internal bone fixation. The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of low molecular weight (Mw) PLLA on the proliferation and differentiation of mouse osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. MC3T3-E1 cells were cultured with the concentration of 5–50 μg/ml of PLLA with weight average Mw of 5000 (PLLA-5k) and 10,000 (PLLA-10k) for 2 weeks using the micromass culture. Both PLLAs did not affect the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells. However, the calcifications of MC3T3-E1 cells were stimulated with increasing the concentration of the PLLAs. Then PLLA-5k increased the calcification of MC3T3-E1 cells more than PLLA-10k. Additionally, both PLLAs increased the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and calcium content of MC3T3-E1 cells up to the similar level to the calcification. These results indicated that low Mw PLLA enhanced the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells with no effect on the proliferation. Moreover, it was suggested that the increase of the ALP activity was a key step to stimulate the calcification of MC3T3-E1 cells. The osteoconductivity of implanted PLLA would be based on the enhancing effect of low Mw PLLA on the differentiation of the osteoblasts.