The effects of dietary loading on the transdifferentiation of condylar chondrocytes

Transdifferentiation of chondrocytes into bone cells explains most condylar growth during prenatal and early postnatal stages, but the mechanisms regulating chondrocyte transdifferentiation during late postnatal growth remain unknown. This study aimed to quantify the effects of dietary loading on chondrocyte-derived osteogenesis during late postnatal condylar growth.

Two compound mouse lines were used to trace the fate of chondrocyte lineage in vivo. Twelve 3-week-old male Aggrecan-Cre^ERT2 (Acan^Lineage); R26R^TdTomato; 2.3 Col10a1-GFP and twelve 3-week-old male Col10a1-Cre (Col10a1^Lineage); R26R^TdTomato; 2.3Col1a1-GFP were randomly divided into experimental (soft-food diet, n = 6) and control (hard-food diet, n = 6) groups and kept for 6 weeks. One time, tamoxifen injections were given to Acan^Lineage mice at 3 weeks. Radiographic, microcomputed tomographic, and histomorphometric analyses were performed.

Radiologic analysis showed that mice with a soft-food diet had smaller mandible lengths as well as decreased bone volume and density for their condylar process. Histologically, mice with soft diets had reduced activity in chondrocyte proliferation and maturation compared with the controls. Cell lineage tracing results showed the number of Acan^Lineage-derived bone cells (293.8 ± 39.8 vs 207.1 ± 44.6; P = 0.005), as well as total bone cells (445.6 ± 31.7 vs 360.7 ± 46.9; P = 0.004), was significantly higher in the hard-diet group than in the soft-diet group, whereas the number of non-Acan^Lineage-derived bone cells was not significantly different among groups (P = 0.938). Col10a1^Lineage mice showed the same trend.

Dietary loading directly affects condyle chondrogenesis and chondrocyte transdifferentiation, which alters the extent of condylar growth and remodeling.