Expression data from control and Ascorbic Acid (AA) stimulated Mc-3T3-E1 osteoblasts

Despite advances in investigating functional aspects of osteoblast (OB) differentiation, especially studies on how bone proteins are deposited and mineralized, there has been little research on the intracellular trafficking of bone proteins during OB differentiation. Collagen synthesis and secretion is markedly upregulated upon Ascorbic Acid (AA) stimulation. Understanding the mechanism by which collagen is mobilized in specialized OB cells is important for both basic cell biology and diseases involving defects in bone secretion and deposition. RabGTPases are major regulators on protein trafficking throughout the cell. In this study, we identified the Rab GTPases that are upregulated during 5-day AA differentiation of OBs using microarray analysis, namely Rab1, Rab3d and Rab27b. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying procollagen production and trafficking and identified up-regulated genes during this process. Control Mc3T3-E1 cells and 5 day Ascorbic Acid stimulated cells were processed for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.