{
  "abstract": "Mineralized bone tissue is essential for skeletal integrity, mechanical stability, and mineral homeostasis. Osteocytes, the most abundant bone cell type, play central roles in bone remodeling and endocrine regulation but remain difficult to investigate because of their embedded localization within the mineralized matrix. Consequently, the molecular mechanisms underlying osteoblast-to-osteocyte differentiation remain incompletely understood.\n\nHere, we performed a comprehensive quantitative proteomic analysis of the widely used human SaOS-2 cell line during osteoblast-to-osteocyte-like differentiation. More than 5000 proteins were quantified, providing a comprehensive proteomic roadmap of this differentiation process. Proteomic profiling demonstrated extensive molecular remodeling accompanied by extracellular matrix reorganization and dynamic changes in collagen abundance. Although differentiated SaOS-2 cells retained characteristics of late osteoblasts and did not fully recapitulate the phenotype of mature osteocytes, they acquired a distinct osteocyte-like proteomic signature. Furthermore, we identified and orthogonally validated several candidate protein markers associated with the osteoblast and osteocyte-like states.\n\nTogether, our study provides the first comprehensive protein-level characterization of SaOS-2 osteoblast-to-osteocyte-like differentiation. Beyond improving the molecular characterization of this widely used model, it provides a valuable resource for future studies investigating bone biology, extracellular matrix remodeling, and skeletal disease.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Medizinisches Proteom-Center, Medical Faculty, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 44801, Germany",
    "Department of Anatomy and Molecular Embryology, Institute of Anatomy, Medical Faculty, Ruhr University Bochum",
    "Medical Imaging Center (MIC), Electron Microscopy Medical Analysis - Core Facility (EMMA ), Medical Faculty, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany",
    "Clinic for Children and Adolescents, Pediatric Endocrinology, St. Josef-Hospital, Bochum, D-44791, Germany"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 16,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Britta Eggers"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sascha Roocke"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Svitlana Rozanova"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karin Schork"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Maximilian Schütte"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mira Struwe"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Paul Zandner"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Maximilian Hausherr"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Greta Domroese"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Morris Gellisch"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Martin Eisenacher"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jacqueline Heinen-Weiler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Carsten Theiss"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Annette Richter-Unruh"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Katalin Barkovits"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Katrin Marcus"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6bkcsjkz8jsrw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.bonr.2026.101961",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13722065/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "6bkcsjkz8jsrw",
  "issns": [
    "2352-1872"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13722065",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Full Length Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Bone Metabolism and Diseases"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223207123",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13722065/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13722065",
  "pmid": "42965168",
  "published": "2026-10-23",
  "publisher": "Elsevier",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6bkcsjkz8jsrw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:37Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13722065",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13722065"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:22:38Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13722065",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bonr.2026.101961"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Bone Metabolism and Diseases",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A proteomic roadmap of SaOS-2 osteoblast-to-osteocyte-like differentiation",
  "title_text": "A proteomic roadmap of SaOS-2 osteoblast-to-osteocyte-like differentiation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-03T12:22:38Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6bkcsjkz8jsrw",
  "venue": "Bone reports",
  "versions": []
}