Gene expression profiling of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells during osteogenic differentiation

Objective Osteogenesis is a multiple‐step process through which osteoblasts are derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with multilineage differentiation potential. This study aimed to analyze gene expression profiling during osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. Materials and Methods Human MSCs were isolated and induced for differentiation in osteogenic medium. Full‐genome gene expression microarrays and gene ontology analysis were performed. Results A total of 1,680 differentially expressed genes in differentiated MSCs were identified including 430 upregulated and 1,250 downregulated. Moreover, pathway‐act‐network analysis showed that cell cycle, p53 signaling pathway and focal adhesion, had high degree (>5). The ribonucleotide reductase M1, thymidine kinase 1 and histone cluster 1 H3e also showed high degree (>10). Polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed the differential expression of insulin‐like growth factor binding protein 3, SMAD family member 3, transforming growth factor beta 2, and fibroblast growth factor 14 in differentiated MSCs. Conclusions Gene expression profiling provides a foundation to reveal the mechanisms that regulate osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. We applied microarray and bioinformatics technology to perform gene expression profiling of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells during osteogenic differentiation. Our findings of the differential genes and significant pathways provide new insight into osteogenic differentiation of hMSC.