c-fos expression precedes osteogenic differentiation of cartilage cells in vitro.
Open Access
- 1 September 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Rockefeller University Press in The Journal of cell biology
- Vol. 111 (3), 1313-1323
- https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.111.3.1313
Abstract
We have investigated the temporal pattern of expression of c-fos in cartilage cells in mouse mandibular condyles. During in vitro cultivation, the progenitor cells in this organ differentiate to osteoblasts, and hypertrophic chondrocytes start to show features indicative of osteogenic differentiation. Prior to these processes we observed two distinct patterns of c-fos expression. High, transient c-fos expression was found in the entire tissue within 30 min of culture. This type of c-fos expression appeared to result from mechanical forces applied during dissection. The second type of c-fos expression appeared in individual cells in the zone of hypertrophic chondrocytes. A varying number of formerly quiescent chondrocytes expressed high levels of c-fos mRNA after between 30 min and 10 d in culture, with a peak in the number of cells between days 1 and 3. c-fos expression in these cartilage cells was followed by DNA replication and expression of genes typifying osteoblastic differentiation. After 7 d in culture, groups of cells with the typical ultrastructural features of osteoblasts, and surrounded by an osteroid-like matrix, were observed in single chondrocyte-type lacunae, suggesting division of chondrocytes and differentiation to osteoblasts. The data suggest that c-fos may play a crucial role in the perturbation of determined pathways of skeletoblast differentiation and in the regulation of endochondral bone formation.Keywords
This publication has 55 references indexed in Scilit:
- Gene expression during osteogenic differentiation in mandibular condyles in vitro.The Journal of cell biology, 1990
- Characterization of the rat osteocalcin gene: stimulation of promoter activity by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3Biochemistry, 1988
- The c-fos protein interacts with c-JunAP-1 to stimulate transcription of AP-1 responsive genesCell, 1988
- Nucleoprotein complexes that regulate gene expression in adipocyte differentiation: direct participation of c-fosCell, 1987
- Induction of c-fos gene and protein by growth factors precedes activation of c-mycNature, 1984
- In vitro transformation of chondroprogenitor cells into osteoblasts and the formation of new membrane boneThe Anatomical Record, 1983
- Structure and variation of human ribosomal DNA: molecular analysis of cloned fragmentsGene, 1981
- Chondrocyte-to-osteocyte Transformation in Grafts of Perichondrium-free Epiphyseal CartilageClinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 1977
- Ultrastructure of developing cartilage in the mandibular condyle of the mouseCells Tissues Organs, 1974
- An autoradiographic study of chondrocyte transformation into chondroclasts and osteocytes during bone formation In vitroThe Anatomical Record, 1967