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TISSUE-SPECIFIC STEM CELLS

Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Influences the Fate Choice of Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells

^aDepartment of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
^bSankyo Pharmaceuticals, Tokyo, Japan;
^cDepartment of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Key Words. Leukemia inhibitory factor • Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor • Osteoblast • Adipocyte • Differentiation Single colonies

Correspondence: Jane E. Aubin, Ph.D., Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Room 6233, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada. Telephone: 416-978-4220; Fax: 416-978-3954; e-mail: jane.aubin{at}utoronto.ca

Received July 10, 2006; accepted for publication October 1, 2006.


Osteoblasts and adipocytes derive from a common mesenchymal precursor, and in at least some circumstances, differentiation along these two lineages is inversely related. For example, we have recently observed that concomitant with inhibition of osteoblast differentiation and bone nodule formation, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) induces genes regulating lipid metabolism in fetal rat calvaria (RC) cell cultures. In this study, we further investigated the adipogenic capacity of LIF-treated RC cells. Quantitative analyses revealed that LIF increased the adipocyte differentiation induced by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor agonist BRL49653 (BRL) in RC cell populations. Gene expression profiling of individual RC cell colonies in untreated cells or cells treated with LIF, BRL, or combined LIF-BRL suggested that some adipocytes arose from bipotential or other primitive precursors, including osteoprogenitors, since many colonies co-expressed osteoblast and adipocyte differentiation markers, whereas some arose from other cell pools, most likely committed preadipocytes present in the population. These analyses further suggested that LIF and BRL do not act at the same stages of the mesenchymal hierarchy, but rather that LIF modifies differentiation of precursor cells, whereas BRL acts later to favor adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, our data suggest that LIF increased adipocyte differentiation at least in part by altering the fate of osteoblastic cells and their precursors.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. E. Aubin, R. Bouillon, T. A. Guise, and I. R. Reid Meeting Report from the 17th Scientific Meeting of the International Bone and Mineral Society: June 24-29, 2007 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada IBMS BoneKEy, November 1, 2007; 4(11): 299 - 313. [Full Text] [PDF]