Purpose: Many Sox proteins play important roles both in mesoderm and ectoderm development. It is reported that Sox2, a member of this family, is essential for the maintenance of the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells (ES) and neural stem cells (NSCs). To investigate whether Sox2 participates in mesoderm development besides ectoderm, Sox2 was introduced into C3H10T1/2 cells.
Methods: We produced recombinant retrovirus expressing Sox2 in GP2-293t cells and infected the virus into C3H10T1/2 cells. Growth property, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, mineralized nodules, osteogenic gene expression and related signal pathways were analysed and compared between Sox2-expressing cells and control cells.
Results: Sox2 over-expression led to increased proliferation of C3H10T1/2 cells, activation of Wnt/β-catenin and p38MAPK pathways. When cultured in osteogenic differentiation medium, ALP and mineralized nodules formation were inhibited in Sox2 over-expressing cells with down-regulation of osteogenic gene expression as well as inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin and p38MAPK pathways.
Conclusions: All these data suggested that over-expression of Sox2 promoted proliferation and inhibited osteoblast differentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells.