Abstract： Objective To study the effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the proliferation,osteogenic differentiation and mineralization of type 2 diabetic mice bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC),providing basis for clinical application of NGF.Methods Three 8-week-old male db/db mice and two 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used in the study.BMSC derived from femur were cultured though adherence method.BMSC of C57BL/6J mice and db/db mice was divided into normal group and diabetic group to conduct the osteogenic potential experiment,named experiment one.In experiment two,diabetic BMSC was divided into 3 groups:diabetic control group,NGF group,and K252a+NGF group [K252a was the inhibitor of tyrosine kinase A (TrkA),which was the high affinity receptor of NGF],to investigate effect of NGF on osteogenic potential of diabetic mice BMSC.After seeding BMSC,K252a was added into K252a+ NGF group,then NGF was added 30 min later.NGF was added into NGF group and K252a+NGF group,but not diabetic control group.The proliferation of BMSC at 1,3,5 and 7 d in experiment one and the proliferation of BMSC at 1,2 and 3 d in experiment two were evaluated through methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium,and the level of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) at 3,5 and 7 d in both experiments were measured.After being osteogenic induced for 14 d,mineralized nodules in both experiments were quantitated by alizarin red calcium stain.Five holes were set in every group,and all experiments were repeated 3 times.Results The BMSC proliferation of diabetic group was significantly higher than that of the normal group at 3,5 and 7 d (P＜0.05).After being osteogenic inducted for 3,5 and 7 d,ALP level of diabetic group were significantly lower than that of normal group (P＜0.05).After being osteogenic inducted for 14 d,calcium nodule count of diabetic group [(23.1±6.4) nodule/field] were significantly lower than that of normal group [(36.9±7.9) nodule/field](P＜0.05).At 1,2 and 3 d,BMSC proliferations of diabetic control group,NGF group and K252a+NGF group were not statistically different (P＞0.05).After being osteogenic inducted for 3 and 5 d,ALP level of NGF group was significantly higher than that of diabetic control group (P＜0.05).After being osteogenic inducted for 3,5,and 7 d,ALP level of K252a+NGF group was significantly lower than that of NGF group (P＜0.05) and diabetic control group (P＜0.05).After being osteogenic induced for 14 d,calcium nodule count of NGF group [(45.2±6.8) nodule/field] was significantly more than that of diabetic control group [(23.1±6.4) nodule/field] (P＜0.05);while calcium nodule count of K252a + NGF group [(18.0 ± 4.5) nodule/field] was significantly less than that of NGF group (P＜0.05) and diabetic control group (P＜0.05).Conclusions The differentiation and mineralization of type 2 diabetic mice BMSC was significantly reduced.NGF promoted the osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization of diabetic mice BMSC in viro though combining with TrkA.