Retinoids modify regulation of endogenous gene expression by vitamin D3 and thyroid hormone in three osteosarcoma cell lines.

1 alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (D3), T3, and retinoids are necessary for normal skeletal development, and their actions are interdependent due to the heterodimerization capabilities of their receptors. We investigated the hypothesis that these hormones act on osteoblasts directly to produce complex target gene responses resulting from multiple hormone interactions. Physiological interactions among D3, T3, and retinoid signaling were analyzed in serum-free cultures of the osteosarcoma cell lines ROS 25/1, UMR106, and ROS 17/2.8. These cells express distinct stages of the osteoblast phenotype and coexpress appropriate hormone receptors. Regulation of collagen I alpha 1 and alpha 2, alkaline phosphatase, osteopontin, and osteocalcin messenger RNAs was dependent on the dose and duration of hormone stimulation and modified by cell confluence. Retinoids were required for comprehensive expression of phenotypic responses to D3 and T3 in each cell type and hormone interactions were both cell and target gene specific. Differing responses of target genes in each cell line may provide a molecular basis for discrete hormone actions seen at specific stages of osteoblast differentiation or skeletal development.