Abstract
The need for osteocyte cultures is well known to the community of bone researchers; isolation of primary osteocytes is difficult and produces low cell numbers. Therefore, the most widely used cellular system is the osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cell line. The method here described refers to the use of retinoic acid to generate a homogeneous population of ramified cells with morphological and molecular osteocyte features. After isolation of osteoblasts from mouse calvaria, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is added to cell medium, and cell monitoring is conducted daily under an inverted microscope. First morphological changes are detectable after 2 days of treatment and differentiation is generally complete in 5 days, with progressive development of dendrites, loss of the ability to produce extracellular matrix, down-regulation of osteoblast markers and up-regulation of osteocyte-specific molecules. Daily cell monitoring is needed because of the inherent variability of primary cells, and the protocol can be adapted with minimal variation to cells obtained from different mouse strains and applied to transgenic models. The method is easy to perform and does not require special instrumentation, it is highly reproducible, and rapidly generates a mature osteocyte population in complete absence of extracellular matrix, allowing the use of these cells for unlimited biological applications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE |
| Issue number | 87 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Application of retinoic acid to obtain osteocytes cultures from primary mouse osteoblasts. / Mattinzoli, Deborah; Messa, Piergiorgio; Corbelli, Alessandro; Ikehata, Masami; Mondini, Anna; Zennaro, Cristina; Armelloni, Silvia; Li, Min; Giardino, Laura; Rastaldi, Maria P ia.
In: Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, No. 87, 2014.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Application of retinoic acid to obtain osteocytes cultures from primary mouse osteoblasts
AU - Mattinzoli, Deborah
AU - Messa, Piergiorgio
AU - Corbelli, Alessandro
AU - Ikehata, Masami
AU - Mondini, Anna
AU - Zennaro, Cristina
AU - Armelloni, Silvia
AU - Li, Min
AU - Giardino, Laura
AU - Rastaldi, Maria P ia
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - The need for osteocyte cultures is well known to the community of bone researchers; isolation of primary osteocytes is difficult and produces low cell numbers. Therefore, the most widely used cellular system is the osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cell line. The method here described refers to the use of retinoic acid to generate a homogeneous population of ramified cells with morphological and molecular osteocyte features. After isolation of osteoblasts from mouse calvaria, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is added to cell medium, and cell monitoring is conducted daily under an inverted microscope. First morphological changes are detectable after 2 days of treatment and differentiation is generally complete in 5 days, with progressive development of dendrites, loss of the ability to produce extracellular matrix, down-regulation of osteoblast markers and up-regulation of osteocyte-specific molecules. Daily cell monitoring is needed because of the inherent variability of primary cells, and the protocol can be adapted with minimal variation to cells obtained from different mouse strains and applied to transgenic models. The method is easy to perform and does not require special instrumentation, it is highly reproducible, and rapidly generates a mature osteocyte population in complete absence of extracellular matrix, allowing the use of these cells for unlimited biological applications.
AB - The need for osteocyte cultures is well known to the community of bone researchers; isolation of primary osteocytes is difficult and produces low cell numbers. Therefore, the most widely used cellular system is the osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cell line. The method here described refers to the use of retinoic acid to generate a homogeneous population of ramified cells with morphological and molecular osteocyte features. After isolation of osteoblasts from mouse calvaria, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is added to cell medium, and cell monitoring is conducted daily under an inverted microscope. First morphological changes are detectable after 2 days of treatment and differentiation is generally complete in 5 days, with progressive development of dendrites, loss of the ability to produce extracellular matrix, down-regulation of osteoblast markers and up-regulation of osteocyte-specific molecules. Daily cell monitoring is needed because of the inherent variability of primary cells, and the protocol can be adapted with minimal variation to cells obtained from different mouse strains and applied to transgenic models. The method is easy to perform and does not require special instrumentation, it is highly reproducible, and rapidly generates a mature osteocyte population in complete absence of extracellular matrix, allowing the use of these cells for unlimited biological applications.
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U2 - 10.3791/51465
DO - 10.3791/51465
M3 - Article
C2 - 24894124
AN - SCOPUS:84900537017
JO - Journal of Visualized Experiments
JF - Journal of Visualized Experiments
SN - 1940-087X
IS - 87
ER -