The signaling domain of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), a potent upstream regulator of cell fate that has been implicated in osteoblast differentiation from undifferentiated mesenchymal cells in its endogenous form, was investigated in an immobilized form as a means for accelerating differentiation of uncommitted cells to the osteoblast phenotype. A recombinant cysteine-modified N-terminal Shh (mShh) was...

Cbfa1/Runx2 is a transcription factor essential for bone formation and osteoblast differentiation. Two major N-terminal isoforms of Cbfa1, designated type I/p56 (PEBP2aA1, starting with the sequence MRIPV) and type II/p57 (til-1, starting with the sequence MASNS), each regulated by distinct promoters, are known. Here, we show that the type I transcript is constitutively expressed in nonosseous ...

Osteoblasts respond in direct and indirect ways to estrogens, and age-dependent changes in hormone levels and bone health can be limited by focused hormone replacement therapy. In this study, we report the release and isolation of an estrogen receptor agonist from osteoblast cultures. This entity reprises many aspects of estradiol activity in isolated osteoblasts, but differs from authentic est...

Background: Distraction osteogenesis is an important clinical method for increasing bone mass, but its effects on bone-forming cells are not well understood. In this study, the authors asked how the mechanical forces that occur during this procedure alter specific osteoblast activities suchasmatrixsynthesis, therateofcell replication, and enzyme activities. The authors further asked whether the...

Biodegradable polymer-ceramic composites are attractive systems for bone tissue engineering applications. These composites have the combined advantages of the component phases, as well as the inherent ease in optimization where desired material properties can be tailored in a well-controlled manner. This study focuses on the optimization of a polylactide-co-glycolide (PLAGA) and 45S5 bioactive ...

objective: our research attempted to show that mouse dental pulp stem cells (dpscs) with characters such as accessibility, propagation and higher proliferation rate can provide an improved approach for generate bone tissues. with the aim of finding and comparing the differentiation ability of mesenchymal stem cells derived from dpscs into osteoblast and osteoclast cells; morphological, molecula...

background: bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) are one of the undifferentiated multipotential cell sources of human body. methods: mscs have the capacity to form a variety of cell types, especially chondrocytes and osteocytes. learning about responses of mscs to external milieu and chemical factors such as ph could recommend new approaches for preparation of suitable scaffolds for bone a...

Intermittent application of parathyroid hormone (PTH) has well established anabolic effects on bone mass in rodents and humans. Although transcriptional mechanisms responsible for these effects are not fully understood, it is recognized that transcriptional factor cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) mediates PTH signaling in osteoblasts, and that there is a communication between the PT...

BACKGROUND It is known that physico/chemical alterations on biomaterial surfaces have the capability to modulate cellular behavior, affecting early tissue repair. Such surface modifications are aimed to improve early healing response and, clinically, offer the possibility to shorten the time from implant placement to functional loading. Since FAK and Src are intracellular proteins able to predi...

Background The histological origin of the Ewing's family of tumors (EFT) is still not clear. Since these small cell bone tumors may originate from osteogenic stem cells, the presence of the CD99/MIC2 antigen, known to be overexpressed in EFT, was studied in a human osteoblast cell line in response to differentiation inducers. Methods The HBA-71 monoclonal antibody directed to the CD99/MIC2 an...