Overexpression of Dlx2 enhances osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs and MC3T3-E1 cells via direct upregulation of Osteocalcin and Alp

Abstract

The distal-less homeobox (Dlx) gene family is related to various features of bone development, and the Dlx2 member of that family has been found to play a crucial role in bone formation. A team headed by Steve Guofang Shen at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China investigated the function of Dlx2 in osteogenic (bone development) differentiation of mouse bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and MC3T3-E1 cells (precursors of osteoblasts, the major cellular component of bone). The team found that overexpression of Dlx2 promotes osteogenic differentiation in vitro and accelerates bone formation in vivo by enhancing Osteocalcin and Alp genes (both of which play critical roles in promoting osteoblast maturation). The authors conclude that their results suggest a promising future strategy for treating bone defects where BMSCs overexpress Dlx2.

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)(81771036, 81741028)

grants (17410710500) Shanghai International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Projects Laser Micro-machine and Vascularization of TCP/PCL Scaffolds (to Wenbin Zhang).