Bone Abstracts

Signaling pathways crucial in bone development, including Wnt, are also upregulated in breast cancer cells to promote tumor growth in the skeleton, a process known as osteomimicry. Thus, we hypothesized that bone metastatic tumor cells also aberrantly express osteogenic miRNAs to support osteomimetic properties. We have previously shown that miR-218 is highly expressed in osteoblasts and promotes osteogenic differentiation. Interestingly, expression analysis revealed a signifi...

Few drugs generate bone-stimulatory effects via epigenetic mechanisms. Modulation of CpG-residues hydroxymethylation in gene-promoters of key osteoblast-related factors (e.g., DLX5) induces their expression and increases osteoblast differentiation in vitro. The chemical properties of sulforaphane (SFN), a natural compound abundantly present in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, suggest that it may have similar molecular and biological effects. Previous stu...

Mesenchymal cells alter and retain their phenotype during skeletal development through activation or suppression of signaling pathways. For example, we have shown that Wnt3a only stimulates osteoblast differentiation in cells with intrinsic osteogenic potential (e.g., MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts) and not in fat cell precursors or fibroblasts (respectively, 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes or NIH3T3 fibroblasts). Wnt3a promotes osteogenesis in part by stimulating autocrine production of the ...