The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells

Abstract Background Osteocalcin is a small protein abundant in the bone extracellular-matrix, that serves as a marker for mature osteoblasts. To become activated, osteocalcin undergoes a specific post-translational carboxylation. Osteocalcin is expressed at advanced stages of embryogenesis and after...

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Main Authors: Rotem Kalev-Altman, Veatriki Fraggi-Rankis, Efrat Monsonego-Ornan, Dalit Sela-Donenfeld
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-11-01
Series:BMC Research Notes
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-024-06990-7
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author Rotem Kalev-Altman
Veatriki Fraggi-Rankis
Efrat Monsonego-Ornan
Dalit Sela-Donenfeld
author_facet Rotem Kalev-Altman
Veatriki Fraggi-Rankis
Efrat Monsonego-Ornan
Dalit Sela-Donenfeld
author_sort Rotem Kalev-Altman
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Osteocalcin is a small protein abundant in the bone extracellular-matrix, that serves as a marker for mature osteoblasts. To become activated, osteocalcin undergoes a specific post-translational carboxylation. Osteocalcin is expressed at advanced stages of embryogenesis and after birth, when bone formation takes place. Neural crest cells (NCCs) are a unique cell population that evolves during early stages of development. While initially NCCs populate the dorsal neural-tube, later they undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition and migrate throughout the embryo in highly-regulated manner. NCCs give rise to multiple cell types including neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system, chromaffin cells and skin melanocytes. Remarkably, in the head region, NCCs give rise to cartilage and bone. Finding: Here we report that osteocalcin is detected in cranial NCCs. Analysis of chick embryos at stages of cranial NCC migration revealed that osteocalcin mRNA and protein is expressed in pre-migratory and migratory NCCs in-vivo and ex-vivo. Addition of warfarin, an inhibitor of osteocalcin carboxylation, onto neural-tube explants, reduced the amount of NCC migration. These results provide the first evidence of osteocalcin presence in cranial NCCs, much before they give rise to craniofacial skeleton, and propose its possible involvement in the regulation of NCC migration.
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spelling doaj-art-8c543f398a9444959e4ab7544822590a2024-11-10T12:05:14ZengBMCBMC Research Notes1756-05002024-11-011711910.1186/s13104-024-06990-7The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cellsRotem Kalev-Altman0Veatriki Fraggi-Rankis1Efrat Monsonego-Ornan2Dalit Sela-Donenfeld3Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew UniversityKoret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew UniversityThe Institute of Biochemistry and Nutrition, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew UniversityKoret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew UniversityAbstract Background Osteocalcin is a small protein abundant in the bone extracellular-matrix, that serves as a marker for mature osteoblasts. To become activated, osteocalcin undergoes a specific post-translational carboxylation. Osteocalcin is expressed at advanced stages of embryogenesis and after birth, when bone formation takes place. Neural crest cells (NCCs) are a unique cell population that evolves during early stages of development. While initially NCCs populate the dorsal neural-tube, later they undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition and migrate throughout the embryo in highly-regulated manner. NCCs give rise to multiple cell types including neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system, chromaffin cells and skin melanocytes. Remarkably, in the head region, NCCs give rise to cartilage and bone. Finding: Here we report that osteocalcin is detected in cranial NCCs. Analysis of chick embryos at stages of cranial NCC migration revealed that osteocalcin mRNA and protein is expressed in pre-migratory and migratory NCCs in-vivo and ex-vivo. Addition of warfarin, an inhibitor of osteocalcin carboxylation, onto neural-tube explants, reduced the amount of NCC migration. These results provide the first evidence of osteocalcin presence in cranial NCCs, much before they give rise to craniofacial skeleton, and propose its possible involvement in the regulation of NCC migration.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-024-06990-7BGPOSTNeural tubeDelaminationCell motilityChondrogenesis
spellingShingle Rotem Kalev-Altman
Veatriki Fraggi-Rankis
Efrat Monsonego-Ornan
Dalit Sela-Donenfeld
The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
BMC Research Notes
BGP
OST
Neural tube
Delamination
Cell motility
Chondrogenesis
title The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
title_full The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
title_fullStr The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
title_full_unstemmed The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
title_short The bone Gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
title_sort bone gla protein osteocalcin is expressed in cranial neural crest cells
topic BGP
OST
Neural tube
Delamination
Cell motility
Chondrogenesis
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-024-06990-7
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