Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) give rise to osteoblasts and adipocytes, with an inverse relationship between the two. The MSCs from protease-activated receptor-2 knockout (PAR
2
KO) mice have a reduced capacity to generate osteoblasts. Here we describe the observation that PAR
2
KO osteoblastic cultures generate more adipocytes than wildtype (WT) cultures. Osteoblasts from PAR
2
KO mice expressed lower levels of osteoblastic genes (
Runx2
,
Col1a1
and
Bglap
), and higher levels of the adipocytic gene
Pparg
than WT osteoblasts. Bone marrow stromal cells from PAR
2
KO mice generated fewer osteoblastic colonies (assessed by staining for alkaline phosphatase activity and mineral deposition) and more adipocytic (Oil Red-O positive) colonies than cultures from WT mice. Similarly, cultures of the bone marrow stromal cell line (Kusa 4b10) in which PAR
2
was knocked down (
F2rl1
KD), were less osteoblastic and more adipocytic than vector control cells. Putative regulators of PAR
2
-mediated osteogenesis and suppression of adipogenesis were identified in an RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) investigation; these include
C1qtnf3
,
Gpr35
,
Grem1
,
Snorc
and
Tcea3
, which were more highly expressed, and
Cnr1
,
Enpep
,
Hmgn5
,
Il6
and
Ramp3
which were expressed at lower levels, in control than in
F2rl1
KD cells. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were higher in medium harvested from
F2rl1
KD cells than from control cells, and a neutralising anti-IL-6 antibody reduced the number of adipocytes in
F2rl1
KD cultures to that of control cultures. Thus, PAR
2
appears to be a mediator of the reciprocal relationship between osteogenesis and adipogenesis, with IL-6 having a regulatory role in these PAR
2
-mediated effects.