Editorial: Differentiation and Regulation of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Differentiation and Regulation of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal CellsBone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs, also known as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells) are a group of heterogeneous stromal cells with various differentiation potentials contributing to the postnatal genesis of osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes as well as the maintenance of hemopoietic niches.Under pathological conditions like osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, etc., the differentiation shift of BMSCs has gained attention and been ever in the spotlight in recent decades.This Research Topic focuses on the mechanisms and regulations of BMSCs differentiation as well as therapeutic strategies for altering BMSC differentiation shifts for bone diseases.This Research Topic contains 16 reports, 5 literature reviews, and 11 pieces of original researche.Identification and isolation of BMSCs is the first step to study the differentiation of BMSCs.Gao et al. comprehensively reviewed the current knowledge about several new subgroups of BMSCs.They could be divided into multipotent stem cells and skeletal stem cells, and the former cells are expected to mainly differentiate into adipocytes while the latter are the stem cells of osteoblast and chondrocyte.The differential lineages of skeletal stem cells were also compared between humans and mice in this review.Wei et al. identified and isolated a new subtype of MSCs derived from lateral mesoderm (LM-MSCs) using a novel protocol.LM-MSCs are similar to BMSCs but showed a homeodomain transcription factor (HOX) gene expression pattern.This new type of MSCs showed increased osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation capacity and hematopoietic support potential compared to BMSCs.LM-MSCs might be an ideal cell source for bone and blood diseases after further confirmation.Insight into mechanisms controlling BMSCs differentiation is also interesting.Differentiation of BMSCs in normal organisms may be related to epigenetic and gene expression.The contribution by Liu et al. provided updated insights into the role of epigenetic modifier proteins, chromodomain helicase DNA-binding (CHD) proteins, in BMSCs.CHD proteins promote disruption of histone-DNA contacts and exhibit regulatory effects in stem cell proliferation, differentiation, and functioning.It is involved in neurodevelopmental disorders, including CHARGE syndrome and Kallmann syndrome, cancers, and bone diseases.Thus, epigenetic regulation in stem cells could be a clinical target.The development of high-throughput sequencing technologies and transcriptomics has provided new methods to create a deeper understanding of key genes in BMSC differentiation.Data from rat BMSC differentiation high-throughput transcription factors sequencing presented by Zhang et al. demonstrated that Hopx and other early responder TFs may control the osteogenic cell fate of BMSCs and participate in the development of osteoporosis.Gbx2 and other early responder TFs

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