Scientists at the Scripps Institute in the US have found that a single protein was stopping bone marrow stem cells from developing into bone.

They focused on a protein called PPARy (known as the master regulator of fat) and its impact on the fate of stem cells derived from bone marrow (“mesenchymal stem cells”). when human mesenchymal stem cells were treated with the new compound, which they called SR2595 (SR=Scripps Research), there was a statistically significant increase in osteoblast formation, a cell type known to form bone.

They have published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

Marciano DP, Kuruvilla DS, Boregowda SV, Asteian A, Hughes TS, Garcia-Ordonez R, Corzo CA, Khan TM, Novick SJ, Park H, Kojetin DJ, Phinney DG, Bruning JB, Kamenecka TM, Griffin PR (2015): Pharmacological repression of PPARγ promotes osteogenesis. Nat Commun. 2015 Jun 12;6:7443. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8443.

Source:
http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2015/20150612griffin.html