Efficient osteogenic differentiation and bone formation from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) should have clinical applications in treating nonunion fracture healing. MSCs are adherent bone marrow stromal cells that can self-renew and differentiate into osteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic, and myogenic lineages. We have identified bone morphogenetic protein 9 (BMP-9) as one of the most osteogenic BMPs. Here we investigate the effect of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) on BMP-9-induced bone formation. We have found that endogenous IGF-2 expression is low in MSCs. Expression of IGF-2 can potentiate BMP-9-induced early osteogenic marker alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and the expression of later markers. IGF-2 has been shown to augment BMP-9-induced ectopic bone formation in the stem cell implantation assay. In perinatal limb explant culture assay, IGF-2 enhances BMP-9-induced endochondral ossification, whereas IGF-2 itself can promote the expansion of the hypertropic chondrocyte zone of the cultured limb explants. Expression of the IGF antagonists IGFBP3 and IGFBP4 leads to inhibition of the IGF-2 effect on BMP-9-induced ALP activity and matrix mineralization. Mechanistically, IGF-2 is further shown to enhance the BMP-9-induced BMPR-Smad reporter activity and Smad1/5/8 nuclear translocation. PI3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 abolishes the IGF-2 potentiation effect on BMP-9-mediated osteogenic signaling and can directly inhibit BMP-9 activity. These results demonstrate that BMP-9 crosstalks with IGF-2 through PI3K/AKT signaling pathway during osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Taken together, our findings suggest that a combination of BMP-9 and IGF-2 may be explored as an effective bone-regeneration agent to treat large segmental bony defects, nonunion fracture, and/or osteoporotic fracture. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are bone marrow stromal cells that can differentiate into multiple lineages. We previously demonstrated that BMP9 is one of the most potent BMPs to induce osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. BMP9 is one of the least studied BMPs. Whereas ALK1, ALK5, and/or endoglin have recently been reported as potential BMP9 type I receptors in endothelial cells, little is known about type I receptor involvement in BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation in MSCs. Here, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of the functional role of seven type I receptors in BMP9-induced osteogenic signaling in MSCs. We have found that most of the seven type I receptors are expressed in MSCs. However, using dominant-negative mutants for the seven type I receptors, we demonstrate that only ALK1 and ALK2 mutants effectively inhibit BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation in vitro and ectopic ossification in MSC implantation assays. Protein fragment complementation assays demonstrate that ALK1 and ALK2 directly interact with BMP9. Likewise, RNAi silencing of ALK1 and ALK2 expression inhibits BMP9-induced BMPR-Smad activity and osteogenic differentiation in MSCs both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, our results strongly suggest that ALK1 and ALK2 may play an important role in mediating BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation. These findings should further aid us in understanding the molecular mechanism through which BMP9 regulates osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs),2 representing a very small fraction of the total population of nucleated cells in bone marrow are adherent marrow stromal cells that can self-renew and differentiate into osteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic, and myogenic lineages (1-4). Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), members of the TGF␤ superfamily, play an important role in stem cell biology (5, 6) and function to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation during development (7, 8). Several BMPs have been shown to regulate osteoblast differentiation and subsequent bone formation (3, 4, 7-9) and genetic disruptions of these factors have resulted in various skeletal and extraskeletal abnormalities during development (9, 10). We have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the osteogenic activity of 14 human BMPs and demonstrated that BMP9 is one of the most potent BMPs in promoting osteogenic differentiation of MSCs (3,11,12). We also demonstrated that osteogenic BMP9 regulates a distinct set of downstream targets in MSCs (13-16).BMP9 (a.k.a., GDF2) was originally identified from fetal mouse liver cDNA libraries, and is a relatively uncharacterized member of the BMP family (17). BMP9 is highly expressed in the developing mouse liver, and recombinant human BMP9 stimulates hepatocyte proliferation (17,18). It has been reported that BMP9 may play role in regulating glucose and iron homeostasis in liver (19,20). BMP9 has been shown to be a potent synergistic factor for hematopoietic progenitor generation and colony formation (21) and may play a role in the induction and main...

BackgroundAs one of the least studied bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), BMP9 is one of the most osteogenic BMPs. Retinoic acid (RA) signaling is known to play an important role in development, differentiation and bone metabolism. In this study, we investigate the effect of RA signaling on BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs).Methodology/Principal FindingsBoth primary MPCs and MPC line are used for BMP9 and RA stimulation. Recombinant adenoviruses are used to deliver BMP9, RARα and RXRα into MPCs. The in vitro osteogenic differentiation is monitored by determining the early and late osteogenic markers and matrix mineralization. Mouse perinatal limb explants and in vivo MPC implantation experiments are carried out to assess bone formation. We find that both 9CRA and ATRA effectively induce early osteogenic marker, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and late osteogenic markers, such as osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OC). BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation and mineralization is synergistically enhanced by 9CRA and ATRA in vitro. 9CRA and ATRA are shown to induce BMP9 expression and activate BMPR Smad-mediated transcription activity. Using mouse perinatal limb explants, we find that BMP9 and RAs act together to promote the expansion of hypertrophic chondrocyte zone at growth plate. Progenitor cell implantation studies reveal that co-expression of BMP9 and RXRα or RARα significantly increases trabecular bone and osteoid matrix formation.Conclusion/SignificanceOur results strongly suggest that retinoid signaling may synergize with BMP9 activity in promoting osteogenic differentiation of MPCs. This knowledge should expand our understanding about how BMP9 cross-talks with other signaling pathways. Furthermore, a combination of BMP9 and retinoic acid (or its agonists) may be explored as effective bone regeneration therapeutics to treat large segmental bony defects, non-union fracture, and/or osteoporotic fracture.