Abstract
Osteoporosis is a common disease causing fracture in older populations. Abnormal apoptosis of osteoblasts contributes to the genesis of osteoporosis. Inhibiting apoptosis of osteoblasts provides a promising strategy to prevent osteoporosis. The proliferation of osteoblasts isolated from osteoporotic patients or healthy subjects was determined by MTT assay. Apoptosis was determined by Annexin V/PI assay. Protein expression was measured by western blot. The proliferation of osteoblasts isolated from osteoporotic patients was inhibited and the apoptosis level of these cells was higher than the osteoblasts from healthy subjects. Incubation with psoralen or estradiol significantly enhanced the proliferation and decreased the apoptosis level of osteoporotic osteoblasts. Western blot demonstrated that psoralen or estradiol treatment downregulated the expression of IRE1, p-ASK, p-JNK, and Bax. Meanwhile, expression of Bcl-2 was upregulated. Pretreatment by IRE1 agonist tunicamycin or JNK agonist anisomycin attenuated the effect of psoralen on osteoporotic osteoblasts. Psoralen inhibited apoptosis of osteoporotic osteoblasts by regulating IRE1-ASK1-JNK pathway.