Prospects of osteoactivin in tissue regeneration

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Osteoactivin (OA) was first discovered in an osteopetrotic rat model using mRNA differential display a decade ago and has been studied recently. OA in bone tissue can directly or indirectly regulate the differentiation of osteoblasts by influencing cell behaviours, such as proliferation and adhesion, as well as inducing serial signal cascades, which would be of great importance in the field of tissue engineering. The results of recent studies have further demonstrated that OA plays a critical role in the differentiation and function of cells, especially in bone formation and fracture healing.

Areas covered: The discovery, structure, and function of OA as well as its therapeutic potential in tissue regeneration of bone defects, kidney injury, liver damage, and muscle atrophy.

Expert opinion: OA has great potential in promoting the regeneration of damaged tissues, particularly bone tissue, which is supported by a large body of data. Future studies should focus on exploring the underlying mechanism of OA as well as pursuing the ideal form of OA-related regenerative medicine.

KEYWORDS:

• Osteoactivin
• tissue regeneration
• osteogenesis
• gpnmb

Article highlights

• OA has various functional structures and motifs that are important for its biological effects.

• OA acts as a downstream mediator of the effects of BMP-2 on osteoblast function.

• OA can facilitate the transdifferentiation of myoblasts into osteoblasts.

• OA shows a prominent effect on enhancing bone formation and regeneration.

• OA has the potential to regenerate other organs, such as the kidney and liver.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51303058 and 81371978], the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation [grant number S2013010014787] and Guangdong Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar [grant number 2016A030306018].