Preparation of tea polyphenol-modified copper nanoclusters to promote the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 in high glucose microenvironment

Abstract

Monodisperse, ultra-small copper nanoclusters (ca. 1.8 nm) were prepared by using tea polyphenols (TP) as both the reducing and capping reagent. Great attention has been paid to the fact that diabetes patients usually suffer osteoporosis. The high glucose blood environment in these patients harms osteoblasts. Therefore, the prepared copper nanoclusters were co-cultured with MC3T3-E1 in a high glucose microenvironment (HGM) to investigate their ability to promote the proliferation of the cells. The results demonstrated that these copper nanoclusters can enhance osteoblast bioactivity in a HGM, with no obvious toxicity. The prepared nanoclusters presented advantages to increase the expression level of BMP2, Runx2, OPN (osteopontin), OCN (osteocalcin), ERK/MAPK and JNK/MAPK, which are key proteins involved in bone regeneration. The results suggest that copper nanoclusters have great potential for the treatment of bone-related diseases in diabetes patients.