Maf promotes osteoblast differentiation in mice by mediating the age-related switch in mesenchymal cell differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Aging leads to the disruption of the homeostatic balance of multiple biological systems. In bone marrow multipotent mesenchymal cells undergo differentiation into various anchorage-dependent cell types, including osteoblasts and adipocytes. With age as well as with treatment of antidiabetic drugs such as thiazolidinediones, mesenchymal cells favor differentiation into adipocytes, resulting in an increased number of adipocytes and a decreased number of osteoblasts, causing osteoporosis. The mechanism behind this differentiation switch is unknown. Here we show an age-related decrease in the expression of Maf in mouse mesenchymal cells, which regulated mesenchymal cell bifurcation into osteoblasts and adipocytes by cooperating with the osteogenic transcription factor Runx2 and inhibiting the

SUBMITTER: Nishikawa K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2947225 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature