Differential SHH and IHH expression during osteogenesis induced by Dexamethasone in rat bone marrow mesenchymal cells

Hedgehog signaling pathway is an important signal pathway, which regulates the development of variety of tissues and organs in the embryonic stage. It also plays an important role in osteogenesis. However, there are few data recording the role of Hedgehog signaling molecules in osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. Dexamethasone (DEX), a synthetic and widely used glucocorticoid, affects osteogenesis. And the signaling pathway by which DEX affects osteoblastic differentiation remains obscure. Here to investigate the expressions of Hedgehog signaling molecules, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) and Indian Hedgehog (IHH), during osteogenic differentiation in rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) induced by Dexamethasone. In this study, we found that SHH expression significantly increased while IHH expression decreased during osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs induced by Dexamethasone at the concentration of 10^-7 M from 7 days to 21 days. These findings suggest that Hedgehog signaling molecules, SHH and IHH, involve in the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells induced by Dexamethasone with various effects. To further study the mechanism of the role of Hh signaling molecules on osteogenic differentiation in MSCs would provide new data for bone tissue engineering.