Human oncostatin-M has been used to stimulate bovine full-depth cartilage explants. It has also been used to culture embryonic stem cells in standard minimum essential medium-α.
Oncostatin M (OSM) is produced by activated T cells, monocytes and Kaposi′s sarcoma cells. OSM shares several structural and functional characteristics with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF).
Oncostatin M (OSM) is a growth and differentiation factor that participates in the regulation of neurogenesis, osteogenesis and hematopoiesis. It can exert both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on cell proliferation. OSM stimulates the proliferation of fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells and Kaposi′s sarcoma cells, but, inhibits the growth of some normal and tumor cell lines. It also promotes cytokine release [e.g. interleukin-6 (IL-6), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)] from endothelial cells.