TY - JOUR
T1 - FGF9 can induce endochondral ossification in cranial mesenchyme
AU - Govindarajan, Venkatesh
AU - Overbeek, Paul A.
PY - 2006/2/20
Y1 - 2006/2/20
N2 - Background: The flat bones of the skull (i.e., the frontal and parietal bones) normally form through intramembranous ossification. At these sites cranial mesenchymal cells directly differentiate into osteoblasts without the formation of a cartilage intermediate. This type of ossification is distinct from endochondral ossification, a process that involves initial formation of cartilage and later replacement by bone. Results: We have analyzed a line of transgenic mice that expresses FGF9, a member of the fibroblast growth factor family (FGF), in cranial mesenchymal cells. The parietal bones in these mice show a switch from intramembranous to endochondral ossification. Cranial cartilage precursors are induced to proliferate, then hypertrophy and are later replaced by bone. These changes are accompanied by upregulation of Sox9, Ihh, Col2a1, Col10a1 and downregulation of Cbfal and Osteocalcin. Fate mapping studies show that the cranial mesenchymal cells in the parietal region that show a switch in cell fate are likely to be derived from the mesoderm. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that FGF9 expression is sufficient to convert the differentiation program of (at least a subset of) mesoderm-derived cranial mesenchyme cells from intramembranous to endochondral ossification.
AB - Background: The flat bones of the skull (i.e., the frontal and parietal bones) normally form through intramembranous ossification. At these sites cranial mesenchymal cells directly differentiate into osteoblasts without the formation of a cartilage intermediate. This type of ossification is distinct from endochondral ossification, a process that involves initial formation of cartilage and later replacement by bone. Results: We have analyzed a line of transgenic mice that expresses FGF9, a member of the fibroblast growth factor family (FGF), in cranial mesenchymal cells. The parietal bones in these mice show a switch from intramembranous to endochondral ossification. Cranial cartilage precursors are induced to proliferate, then hypertrophy and are later replaced by bone. These changes are accompanied by upregulation of Sox9, Ihh, Col2a1, Col10a1 and downregulation of Cbfal and Osteocalcin. Fate mapping studies show that the cranial mesenchymal cells in the parietal region that show a switch in cell fate are likely to be derived from the mesoderm. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that FGF9 expression is sufficient to convert the differentiation program of (at least a subset of) mesoderm-derived cranial mesenchyme cells from intramembranous to endochondral ossification.
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U2 - 10.1186/1471-213X-6-7
DO - 10.1186/1471-213X-6-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 16504022
AN - SCOPUS:33644865499
VL - 6
SP - 14P
JO - BMC Developmental Biology
JF - BMC Developmental Biology
SN - 1471-213X
M1 - 7
ER -