| Bone marrow stromal cells(BMS) have multi-directional differentiation potential and self-proliferation capacity,which can differentiated into multiple kinds of cells under the actions of different regulatory factors，including osteoblasts,cartilage cells, adipocytes，myoblasts，neural cells, and vascular endothelial cells. Recent studies have found that the occurrence of osteoporosis may related to the weakened ability of the BMS differentiated into osteoblasts in the bone marrow environment, which leads to an increase in the number of adipocytes in bone marrow cavity, finally leading to the disorder of the ratio of adipocytes and osteoblasts. The process of differentiation from BMS to mature adipocytes or osteoblasts is regulated and affected by various signaling pathways. The mature differentiated osteoblasts and adipocytes can transform into each other under certain conditions. This reminds us the possible therapy using drugs or other means to suppress the differentiation from BMS to adipocytes and the related capacity, thus promoting more production of osteoblasts, even promoting mature adipocytes converting into osteoblasts, thereby stimulating bone formation effectively, in order to treat bone loss and abnormal bone metabolism. Here, based on the research progress, this paper discusses the molecular regulation mechanism of bone marrow adipogenesis and osteoblast differentiation with emphasis on signals that interact with each other. The possible mechanism of trans-differentiation is also discussed in this paper, in order to provide new idea for the development of new drugs. |