Loss of wnt/β-catenin signaling causes cell fate shift of preosteoblasts from osteoblasts to adipocytes.

ABSTRACT: Wnt signaling is essential for osteogenesis and also functions as an adipogenic switch, but it is not known if interrupting wnt signaling via knockout of β-catenin from osteoblasts would cause bone marrow adiposity. Here, we determined whether postnatal deletion of β-catenin in preosteoblasts, through conditional cre expression driven by the osterix promoter, causes bone marrow adiposity. Postnatal disruption of β-catenin in the preosteoblasts led to extensive bone marrow adiposity and low bone mass in adult mice. In cultured bone marrow-derived cells isolated from the knockout mice, adipogenic differentiation was dramatically increased, whereas osteogenic differentiation was significantly decreased. As myoblasts, in the absence of wnt/β-catenin signaling, can be reprogrammed into the adip

SUBMITTER: Song L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3474875 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature