The mesenchymal cell line C3H10T1/2 can be preferentially induced toward chondrogenesis by culturing as a micromass in the presence of bone morphogenetic protein 2. To screen new regulator genes for chondrogenic differentiation, we performed differential display polymerase chain reaction and identified growth arrest-specific 6 (Gas6) as a gene that was clearly downregulated by this induction of...

A stereoselective, sensitive and rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMSMS) method for the determination of R-acenocoumarol and S-acenocoumarol in human plasma was developed and validated at IPRC bioanalytical labs. The procedure involved solid phase extraction of both enantiomers and their corresponding internal standard. The chromatographic separation was accomplished emplo...

Unregulated FGF signaling affects endochondral ossification and long bone growth, causing several genetic forms of human dwarfism. One major mechanism by which FGFs regulate endochondral bone growth is through their inhibitory effect on chondrocyte proliferation. Because mice with targeted mutations of the retinoblastoma (Rb)-related proteins p107 and p130 present severe endochondral bone defec...

BACKGROUND We reported earlier that X-box binding protein1 spliced (XBP1S), a key regulator of the unfolded protein response (UPR), as a bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2)-inducible transcription factor, positively regulates endochondral bone formation by activating granulin-epithelin precursor (GEP) chondrogenic growth factor. Under the stress of misfolded or unfolded proteins in the endoplas...

The short stature homeobox gene SHOX encodes a transcription factor which is important for normal limb development. In humans, SHOX deficiency has been associated with various short stature syndromes including Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD), Langer mesomelic dysplasia and Turner syndrome as well as non-syndromic idiopathic short stature. A common feature of these syndromes is disproportiona...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate cell cultures derived from intrasynovial nodules from a patient with primary synovial chondromatosis (PSC) for aberrant numbers/differentiation of osteochondroprogenitor cells. METHODS Cell cultures were established from PSC synovial nodules, or normal bovine or human osteoarthritis (OA) synovia (for comparison). Multi-lineage potential was determined using well-characte...

Cartilage formation in the chick limb follows rapid proliferation, condensation and differentiation of limb mesenchyme. The control of these early events is poorly understood. Platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR-alpha) is present throughout the mesenchyme of early chick limb buds, while its ligand, PDGF-A, is expressed in the surrounding epithelium. PDGFR-alpha is down-regulate...