Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), a Bmp‐2 (bone morphogenetic protein) upregulated gene in mesenchymal progenitors (C3H10T1/2), is highly expressed in murine embryonic development

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) was identified as upregulated by Bmp-2 (bone morphogenetic protein-2) in the murine mesenchymal progenitor cell line C3H10T1/2 by a subtractive cloning strategy. Expression of recombinant Bmps in mesenchymal C3H10T1/2 progenitors results in the differentiation into the osteogenic, the chondrogenic, and the adipogenic lineage. In addition, ApoE is also expressed in primary osteoblasts isolated from murine calvariae late in the in vitro osteoblast developmental sequence. To infer possible roles of ApoE in organogenesis and tissue differentiation, ApoE expression during mouse embryonic development was analyzed in murine midgestation and late embryonic development by in situ hybridization. ApoE is highly expressed at many sites of organ development (liver, brain, heart, eye, lung), probably in a subset of neural crest cells and ectodermal derivatives suggestive for important functions of ApoE during embryonic differentiation and organ development.