Fig. 4

Effects of MOF-Fe Nanoparticles on the Iron Metabolism and Associated Gene Expression of BMSCs. (A) Perl’s staining images. A block-like distribution of iron ions is evident after one hour of coincubation, transitioning to a uniform intracellular dispersion at the 24-hour mark. The scale bar in the upper right corner of the magnified image is 125 μm. (B) Ferritin light chain (FTL) gene expression. Compared with the control group, the MOF-treated groups exhibited elevated FTL expression. (C) Hepcidin gene expression. An increase in hepcidin expression was noted in the MOF-treated groups compared to the control group. (D) Transferrin receptor (TfR) gene expression. MOF treatment of BMSCs significantly reduced TfR expression. (E) Ferroportin (FPN) expression. (F) MOF-Fe particles promote osteogenesis by altering iron metabolism, reducing the expression of TfR2, and activating the BMP signalling pathway. The data are presented as the means ± SDs (n = 3). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01