An excessive intake of vitamin A has been associated with an increased risk of fractures in humans. In animals, a high vitamin A intake leads to a reduction of long bone diameter and spontaneous fractures. Studies in rodents indicate that the bone thinning is due to increased periosteal bone resorption and reduced radial growth. Whether the latter is a consequence of direct effects on bone or i...

A temporal sequence of interrelated cellular, biochemical, and molecular events which occurs during the progressive expression of the differentiated osteoblast phenotype in primary cultures of fetal rat calvarial cells results in the development of a bone-tissue-like organization. This ordered developmental sequence encompasses three periods: proliferation, matrix maturation, and mineralization...

Resident macrophages are an integral component of many tissues and are important in homeostasis and repair. This study examines the contribution of resident tissue macrophages to bone physiology. Using immunohistochemistry, we showed that a discrete population of resident macrophages, OsteoMacs, was intercalated throughout murine and human osteal tissues. OsteoMacs were distributed among other ...

Reducing the time required for initial integration of bone-contacting implants with host tissues would be of great clinical significance. Changes in osteoblast adhesion formation and reorganization of the F-actin cytoskeleton in response to altered topography are known to be upstream of osteoblast differentiation, and these processes are regulated by the Rho GTPases. Rac and RhoA (through Rho K...

BACKGROUND Mineralization in bone tissue involves stepwise cell-cell and cell-ECM interaction. Regulation of osteoblast culture microenvironments can tailor osteoblast proliferation and mineralization rate, and the quality and/or quantity of the final calcified tissue. An in vitro model to investigate the influencing factors is highly required. METHODS We developed a facile in vitro model in ...

Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and cyclic AMP (cAMP) play critical roles in controlling the differentiation of osteoblasts and mineralization of bone. We have previously reported that each of FGF2 and forskolin (FSK) alone increase transcription of the bone sialoprotein (BSP) gene, and that together (FGF/FSK) they upregulate BSP gene expression synergistically in rat osteoblast-like ROS 17/2...

Tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) is essential for bone matrix mineralization, but the central mechanism for TNAP action remains undefined. We observed that ATP-dependent (45)Ca precipitation was decreased in calvarial osteoblast matrix vesicle (MV) fractions from TNAP-/- mice, a model of infantile hypophosphatasia. Because TNAP hydrolyzes the mineralization inhibitor inorganic pyr...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of synthetic fibronectin (FN) fragments, including fibrin binding sites from amino-terminal FN fragments containing type I repeats 1 to 5, on osteoblast-like cell activity. METHODS Oligopeptides ranging from 9 to 20 amino acids, designated FF1, FF3, and FF5, were synthesized by a solid-phase peptide synthesizing system, and we inves...

BACKGROUND Ultrasound induces mechanical vibration and heat, causing differentiation and proliferation in osteoblasts. All known in vitro evaluations of ultrasound are, however, performed with longitudinal ultrasound waves. We addressed a question: Do other forms of ultrasound waves, such as guided waves (longitudinal and guided flexural) transduced at a remote location, enhance differentiation...