The synergistic effects of fibroblast growth factor-2 and mineral trioxide aggregate on an osteogenic accelerator in vitro

Aim: To examine the effects of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA)/fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) on material properties and in vitro human dental pulp cell (hDPCs) behaviour. Methodology: The setting time and diametral tensile strength (DTS) of MTA and MTA/FGF-2 were measured. The structure of specimens before and after soaking in DMEM was examined under a scanning electron microscope. Alamar Blue was used for evaluating hDPCs proliferation. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to determine ALP and osteocalcin (OC) expression in hDPCs cultured on cements. The effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection targeting fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) was also evaluated. One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the significance of the differences between the mean values. Results: Setting time and DTS data were not found to be significant (P > 0.05) between MTA with and without FGF-2. Cell proliferation and differentiation increased significantly (P < 0.05) with FGF-2 mixed MTA. After siRNA transfection with FGFR, the proliferation and differentiation behaviour of the hDPCs appreciably decreased when cultured on an MTA/FGF-2 composite. In contrast, no significant amounts (P > 0.05) of ALP and OC were secreted by hDPCs seeded on MTA. Conclusions: Mineral trioxide aggregate with FGF-2 content enhanced the higher expression of hDPCs proliferation and osteogenic differentiation as compared to pure MTA cement.