Abstract
Osteoblasts and adipocytes share a common mesenchymal progenitor in the bone marrow. This implies that a reciprocal relationship exists between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. Further, cells of osteoblast lineage transdifferentiate into adipocytes under some circumstances. Dysregulation of osteo-adipogenic fate-determination leads to bone diseases such as osteoporosis, accompanied by an increase in bone marrow adipose tissue. Thus, the fine-tuning of osteo-adipogenesis is necessary for bone homeostasis. Osteo-adipogenic progression is governed by a complex crosstalk of extrinsic signals, transcription factors, and epigenetic factors. Long non-protein-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) act in part as epigenetic regulators in a broad range of biological activities, such as chromatin organization, transcriptional regulation, post-translational modifications, and histone modification. In this review, we highlight the roles of epigenetic regulators, particularly lncRNAs, in the osteo-adipogenic lineage commitment of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and the adipogenic transdifferentiation of osteoblasts.
Highlights
Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) differentiate into multiple different cell types such as osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes
The bone marrow cavity is filled with active hematopoietic cells in newborns, and these cells are replaced with BMSC-derived adipocytes with age, resulting in the formation of marrow adipose tissue (MAT) [3]
Aging-associated alterations are observed in the context of chromatin organization [129]
Summary
Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) differentiate into multiple different cell types such as osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes. The current understanding of the mechanism underlying MAT accumulation is that it occurs due to the increased expression of PPARγ which causes the commitment of BMSCs to the adipogenic lineage [8,9]. Recent discoveries of non-protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have opened an exciting new field of the epigenetic mechanisms involved in fate-choice decisions and differentiation processes in many different cell types [10,11]. We highlight recent studies describing the epigenetic processes by which lncRNAs regulate osteogenic versus adipogenic differentiation in the boneInmt. 2. EpRigNeAnset[i1c0s,1a1n].dInnctRhiNs Aresview, we highlight recent studies describing the epigenetic processes by which lncRNAs regulate osteogenic versus adipogenic differentiation in the bone marrow.
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