Progressive development of the osteoblast phenotype during differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells derived from fetal rat calvaria: model for in vitro bone formation.

Abstract excerpt

Osteoblasts are the primary cells responsible for bone formation and are thought to originate from mesenchymal osteoprogenitor cells within skeletal tissues. To elucidate the osteoblastic differentiation process, fetal rat calvariae (FRC) were enzymatically digested and fractionated to provide an osteoprogenitor-enriched cell population. The third fraction of cells from the five sequential digestions tested...

Topics

• Animals
• Bone Morphogenetic Proteins
• Cell Differentiation
• Cell Separation
• Cells, Cultured
• Collagen
• Dexamethasone
• Female
• Fetus
• Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
• Hydroxyproline