Id4, a new candidate gene for senile osteoporosis, acts as a molecular switch promoting osteoblast differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Excessive accumulation of bone marrow adipocytes observed in senile osteoporosis or age-related osteopenia is caused by the unbalanced differentiation of MSCs into bone marrow adipocytes or osteoblasts. Several transcription factors are known to regulate the balance between adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the balance between adipocyte and osteoblast differentiation in the bone marrow have yet to be elucidated. To identify candidate genes associated with senile osteoporosis, we performed genome-wide expression analyses of differentiating osteoblasts and adipocytes. Among transcription factors that were enriched in the early phase of differentiation, Id4 was identified as a key molecule affecting the differentiation of both cell types

SUBMITTER: Tokuzawa Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2900302 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature