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Updated: May 12, 2026

Application of Retinoic Acid to Obtain Osteocytes Cultures from Primary Mouse Osteoblasts
Published on: May 13, 2014
Androgen receptor agonism promotes an osteogenic gene program in preadipocytes
Sean M Hartig1, Qin Feng, Scott A Ochsner
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. hartig@bcm.edu
Abstract:
Androgens regulate body composition by interacting with the androgen receptor (AR) to control gene expression in a tissue-specific manner. To identify novel regulatory roles for AR in preadipocytes, we created a 3T3-L1 cell line stably expressing human AR. We found AR expression is required for androgen-mediated inhibition of 3T3-L1 adipogenesis. This inhibition is characterized by decreased lipid accumulation, reduced expression of adipogenic genes, and induction of genes associated with osteoblast differentiation. Collectively, our results suggest androgens promote an osteogenic gene program at the expense of adipocyte differentiation.
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