A novel cDNA transcript inversely regulated to osteocalcin in differentiating osteoblast-like cells.

In vitro MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells differentiate from a preosteoblastic to a mature osteoblastic phenotype constitutively expressing osteocalcin. For this process cell contacts seem to be an essential prerequisite. Using differential display of mRNA from subconfluent and confluent MC3T3-E1 cultures, we isolated and cloned a novel cDNA transcript, named Mc2, exhibiting an open reading frame of 162 bp and without extensive homologies to sequences in the EMBL database. The presence of the Mc2 mRNA was verified in primary mouse osteoblasts. Mc2 mRNA was upregulated during the transition of MC3T3-E1 cell cultures from subconfluence to confluence. In long-term cultures, Mc2 mRNA expression reached a maximum between days 8 and 12, and decreased again on day 21, when osteocalcin expression significantly increased. Treatment of these cells with by 3,3',5-triiodo-l-thyronine resulted in an inhibition of the culture time-dependent upregulation of Mc2 mRNA, whereby osteocalcin mRNA was highly expressed. This inverse regulation of Mc2 and osteocalcin mRNAs was also found in ROS 17/2.8 cells and in mouse bone marrow stromal cells. Transfection experiments showed that uncontrolled expression of a Mc2-GFP vector led to increased cell death in MC3T3-E1 cells. The transient upregulation of Mc2 mRNA in osteoblast-like cells and its interesting inverse regulation to osteocalcin suggest an important role in osteoblastic differentiation.