Endocrine Abstracts

Osterix (Osx) is an essential transcription factor for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Osx null mutants died perinatally with a complete absence of bone formation and Osx conditional knockouts in osteoblasts showed the osteopenic phenotype after birth. Even in Osx heterozygous mice with normal bone morphology, the reduced cortical thickness and osteoblast differentiation were observed by QCT and in vitro cell culture, respectively. This result exhibited t...

The transcription factors Runx2 and osterix (Osx), which are known as downstream genes in BMP2 pathway, are essential for osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Runx2 expression is normal in Osx null mice, but Osx is not expressed in Runx2 null mice, indicating that Osx acts as a downstream of Runx2. Here, we questioned whether or not all bones could be formed by BMP2–Runx2–Osx pathway or unknown their own gene axis. To answer this question, we first analyzed...