Adenovirus mediated BMP-13 gene transfer induces chondrogenic differentiation of murine mesenchymal progenitor cells JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH Nochi, H., Sung, J. H., Lou, J., Adkisson, H. D., Maloney, W. J., Hruska, K. A. 2004; 19 (1): 111-122

Abstract

Chondrogenic/osteogenic differentiation of a mesenchymal progenitor stimulated by BMP-13 (CDMP-2) was studied. C3H10T1/2 cells were transduced by an adenoviral construct containing BMP-13 or BMP-2. BMP-13 supported chondrogenesis but not terminal differentiation, whereas BMP-2 stimulated endochondral ossification. The studies show that BMP-13 may fail to support terminal chondrocyte differentiation.Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-13 is a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily of growth factors. Although the biological functions of BMP-13 remain poorly understood, continued postnatal expression of BMP-13 in articular cartilage suggests that this protein may function in an autocrine/paracrine fashion to regulate growth and maintenance of articular cartilage. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of BMP-13 in chondrogenic differentiation.Replication-deficient adenoviruses carrying human BMP-13 (Adv-hBMP13), bacterial beta-galactosidase (Adv-beta gal), and human BMP-2 (Adv-hBMP2) were constructed. Murine mesenchymal progenitor cells (C3H10T1/2) were transduced with these vectors, and differentiation to the chondrogenic lineage was assessed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), biochemical, and histological analyses.Our findings revealed that hBMP-13 transduced cells differentiated into round cells that stained with Alcian blue. Analysis of gene expression in hBMP-13-transduced cells demonstrated presence of cartilage-specific markers, absence of hypertrophic chondrocyte specific markers, and upregulation of proteoglycan biosynthesis. In particular, hBMP-13-transduced cells had significantly less and delayed expression of alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium mineral accumulation than hBMP-2-transduced cells. Except for BMPR-IB/ALK-6, expression of BMP receptors was identified constitutively in C3H10T1/2 cells and was not affected by the presence of either of the BMPs. In summary, hBMP-13, while stimulating chondrogenesis, failed to support differentiation to hypertrophic chondrocytes and endochondral ossification similar to hBMP-2. Thus, this may prove to be a useful strategy for cell-based regeneration of articular cartilage.

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View details for PubMedID 14753743