Fig. 11.

Nuclear matrix protein 4 knockout (Nmp4^−/−) osteoprogenitors/osteoblasts exhibit significant elevated expression of several genes that encode proteins of the bone matrix. The schematic shows family of proteins that comprise the bone matrix. Also the expressions of key genes that control mineralization were altered in the Nmp4^−/− cells consistent with the observed phenotype observed in culture. The manually annotated heatmap was derived from RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data generated from wild-type (WT) and Nmp4^−/− mesenchymal stem/progenitor cell (MSPCs) harvested at day 3 (uncommitted cells) and day 7 (early osteogenesis). Red boxes indicate increased expression in the Nmp4^−/− cells compared with the WT cells, with greater color saturation indicating higher expression, and green color indicates reduced expression. The star indicates Nmp4 binds proximal to the transcription start site or within the intron of the gene as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) analysis (16). ECM, extracellular matrix.