Culture of sika deer antler mesenchymal layer cells and prechonseoblasts and the effects of SB-431542 on their proliferation

In this study, the sika deer antler mesenchymal layer cells and prechonseoblasts were isolated and cultured, and the regulatory mechanism of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) to cell proliferation and differentiation of deer antler mesenchymal layer cells and prechonseoblasts was explored through the research on the effects of SB-431542, a special small molecular antagonist, on the proliferation of these two kinds of cells. The mesenchymal layer cells and prechonseoblasts were isolated from the sika deer antler which had grown for 30 days and cultured in vitro, and then the mesenchymal layer cells and prechonseoblasts which had been sub-cultured for the second generation were cultured in culture solution with SB-431542 at different concentrations (0, 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 μmol/L), then MTT assay was performed to detect the changes of cell proliferation activity after 48 hours, and SPSS software was used to analyze the differences of cell proliferation. The results showed that the deer antler mesenchymal layer cells cultured in vitro were fibroblast like, while the prechonseoblasts were fusiform or spindle-shaped, and trypan blue staining showed that the cell activity was above 90%. The proliferation activity of the mesenchymal layer cells treated by SB-431542 was lower than the control group (P<;0.05), while the prechonseoblasts group was higher than the control group (P<;0.05), furthermore, the proliferation activity of prechonseoblasts treated by SB-431542 at the concentration of 3 μmol/L and 5 μmol/L was significantly higher than that of the control (P<;0.01). The results indicated that TGF-β might play an important role in the process of maintaining the tachoproliferation of mesenchymal layer cells and inducing the differentiation of mesenchymal layer cells to chondrocytes.