While both induction culture media and matrix have been reported to regulate the stem cell fate, little is known about which factor plays a more decisive role in directing the MSC differentiation lineage as well as the underlying mechanisms. To this aim, we seeded MSCs on HA-collagen and HA-synthetic hydrogel matrixes, which had demonstrated highly different potentials toward osteoblastic and c...

Giant cell tumor of bone (GCT) is an aggressive bone tumor consisting of multinucleated osteoclast-like giant cells and proliferating osteoblast-like stromal cells. The signaling mechanism involved in GCT stromal cell osteoblastic differentiation is not fully understood. Previous work in our lab reported that GCT stromal cells express high levels of TWIST1, a master transcription factor in skel...

Transcription factors play a key role in determination of the fate of the cells in osteoblastic and chondrocytic lineage. A runt family member, Cbfa, is indispensable for osteoblastic differentiation. Sox 9 and scleraxis are involved in the phenotypic expression in chondrocytes and the cells of early stage connective tissues. These transcription factors will give us a clue to unravel interactio...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules of 21-25 nucleotides that regulate cell behavior through inhibition of translation from mRNA to protein, promotion of mRNA degradation and control of gene transcription. In this study, we investigated the miRNA expression signatures of cell cultures undergoing osteoblastic and osteocytic differentiation from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) using mouse MSC...

In the present study, we investigated the in vitro effect of resveratrol (RSVL), a polyphenolic phytoestrogen, on cell proliferation and osteoblastic maturation in human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (HBMSC) cultures. RSVL (10(-8)-10(-5) M) increased cell growth dose-dependently, as measured by [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation, and stimulated osteoblastic maturation as assessed by alk...

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), the active metabolite of vitamin D (Vit D), increases intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate, maintaining a correct balance of bone remodeling. Vit D has an anabolic effect on the skeletal system and is key in promoting osteoblastic differentiation of human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) from bone marrow. MSCs can be also isolated from the immatu...

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) induce ectopic bone formation in muscle tissue in vivo and convert myoblasts such that they differentiate into osteoblastic cells in vitro. We report here that constitutively active Smad1 induced osteoblastic differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts in cooperation with Smad4 or Runx2. In floxed Smad4 mice-derived cells, Smad4 ablation partially suppressed BMP-4-indu...

The present study aimed to screen several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) for two types of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation. Bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP‑6) and dexamethasone were used to induce MSCs towards osteoblastic differentiation or adipocytic differentiation. The t‑test in the Bioconductor bioinformatics software tool...

We investigated the adipogenic activity of cultured human periosteal-derived cells and studied perioxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligand-mediated differentiation of cultured human periosteal-derived cells into osteoblasts. Periosteal-derived cells expressed adipogenic markers, including CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBP- α), C/EBP-δ, aP2, leptin, LPL, and PPARγ. Lipid vesi...