title: New gene groups associated with dissimilar osteoblastic differentiation are linked to osteosarcomagenesis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteosarcoma has been recently redefined as a differentiation disease and its investigation is hampered by broad and complex genetic alterations. Gene expression analysis of two human osteosarcoma cell lines that are dissimilar in tumour differentiation status and osteogenic property would advance our understanding of osteo-sarcomagenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gene ontology classification, hierarchical clustering, functional annotation analysis and inspection of transcription factors and their targets were used to examine differences between Saos-2 and U-2 OS cells. Microarray data were verified with real-time quantitative PCR and immunocytochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genes from cell binding, cell adhesion and nervous system, as well as some well-known factors of bone formation and osteoblast characterization were identified as being differentially altered in this study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The osteogenicity of osteosarcoma or the disrupted osteoblast differentiation is correlated to cell binding, cell adhesion and the nervous system, as well as the osteogenic signalling system.
authors.affiliation: Prince of Wales Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Luk
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Hai-Tao
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Jia-Lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase