TY - JOUR AB - The neuropeptide Y (NPY) system is considered one of the primary neural signaling pathways. NPY, produced by osteoblasts and other peripheral tissues, is known to inhibit biological functions of osteoblasts. However, until recently, little was known of the autocrine mechanism by which NPY is regulated. To investigate this mechanism, overexpression plasmids and small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting NPY were transfected into the MC3T3‑E1 cell line to observe its effects on osteogenesis. NPY overexpression was found to markedly enhance the osteogenic ability of MC3T3‑E1 cells by an autocrine mechanism, coincident with the upregulation of osterix and runt‑related transcription factor 2 (Runx2). Furthermore, NPY increased the activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OCN) by upregulating their osteoblastic expression in vitro (as well as that of osterix and Runx2). Following transfection with NPY‑siRNA, the osteoblastic ability of MC3T3‑E1 cells was markedly decreased, and NPY deficiency inhibited the protein expression of osterix, Runx2, OCN and ALP in primary osteoblasts. Collectively, these results indicated that NPY played an important role in osteoblast differentiation by regulating the osterix and Runx2 pathways. AD - Department of Joint Surgery, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250033, P.R. China Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, P.R. China Department of Evidence‑Based Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250033, P.R. China Departments of Central Research Lab, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250033, P.R. China Departments of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250033, P.R. China AU - Zhang,Bo AU - Zhang,Xiaolei AU - Xiao,Juan AU - Zhou,Xuguang AU - Chen,Yuan AU - Gao,Chunzheng DA - 2020/11/01 DO - 10.3892/mmr.2020.11506 EP - 4382 IS - 5 JO - Mol Med Rep KW - neuropeptide Y MC3T3‑E1 cell line runt‑related transcription factor 2 osterix small interfering RNA PY - 2020 SN - 1791-2997 1791-3004 SP - 4376 ST - Neuropeptide Y upregulates Runx2 and osterix and enhances osteogenesis in mouse MC3T3‑E1 cells via an autocrine mechanism T2 - Molecular Medicine Reports TI - Neuropeptide Y upregulates Runx2 and osterix and enhances osteogenesis in mouse MC3T3‑E1 cells via an autocrine mechanism UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2020.11506 VL - 22 ER -