Owen HC, Roberts SJ, Ahmed SF, Farquharson C. Dexamethasone-induced expression of the glucocorticoid response gene lipocalin 2 in chondrocytes. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 294: E1023-E1034, 2008. First published April 1, 2008 doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00586.2007 are commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs, but long-term use can result in marked growth retardation in children due to their actions on growth plate chondrocytes. To gain an insight into the mechanisms involved in GC-induced growth retardation, we performed Affymetrix microarray analysis of the murine chondrogenic cell line ATDC5, incubated with 10 Ϫ6 M dexamethasone (Dex) for 24 h. Downregulated genes included secreted frizzled-related protein and IGF-I, and upregulated genes included serum/GC-regulated kinase, connective-tissue growth factor, and lipocalin 2. Lipocalin 2 expression increased 40-fold after 24-h Dex treatment. Expression increased further after 48-h (75-fold) and 96-h (84-fold) Dex treatment, and this response was Dex concentration dependent. Lipocalin 2 was immunolocalized to both proliferating and hypertrophic growth plate zones, and its expression was increased by Dex in primary chondrocytes at 6 h (3-fold, P Ͻ 0.05). The lipocalin 2 response was blocked by the GC-receptor antagonist RU-486 and was increased further by the protein synthesis blocker cycloheximide. Proliferation in lipocalin 2-overexpressing cells was less than in control cells (49%, P Ͻ 0.05), and overexpression caused an increase in collagen type X expression (4-fold, P Ͻ 0.05). The effects of lipocalin 2 overexpression on chondrocyte proliferation (64%, P Ͻ 0.05) and collagen type X expression (8-fold, P Ͻ 0.05) were further exacerbated with the addition of 10 Ϫ6