Studies on the Expression of Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 from Odontoblast-like Cells

Introduction: The goal of this study was to evaluate the mechanism involved in the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) by odontoblast-like cells (ODs) stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) via p42/44, p38, and PI3K. Methods: ODs (MDPC-23) were stimulated with LPS for 1, 6, and 24 hours. The FGF-2 expression was evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and protein production by Western blot analysis. Cells were pretreated with dexamethasone (DEX), MK886 (MK), p42/44 inhibitor (PD98059, PD), p38 inhibitor (SB202190, SB), or PI3K inhibitor (wortmannin, Wort) and then stimulated with LPS (0.1 mu g/mL) for 1 hour. Results: LPS-stimulated ODs express FGF-2 in concentrations at 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 mu g/mL after 1 hour. DEX and MK were able to inhibit FGF-2 mRNA expression. PD, SB, and Wort also decreased expression. Conclusions: LPS-induced FGF-2 mRNA expression on ODs occurs via leukotriene production or cytokine and/or chemokine production activating p42/44, p38, and PI3K pathway. The data suggest that FGF-2 released by ODs might act as modulators of immune response mainly in the tissue repair. (J Endod 2011;37:1520-1524)