BK knockout by TALEN-mediated gene targeting in osteoblasts: KCNMA1 determines the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts

Large conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK) channels participate in many important physiological functions in excitable tissues such as neurons, cardiac and smooth muscles, whereas the knowledge of BK channels in bone tissues and osteoblasts remains elusive. To investigate the role of BK channels in osteoblasts, we used transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) to establish a BK knockout cell line on rat ROS17/2.8 osteoblast, and detected the proliferation and mineralization of the BK-knockout cells. Our study found that the BKknockout cells significantly decreased the ability of proliferation and mineralization as osteoblasts, compared to the wild type cells. The overall expression of osteoblast differentiation marker genes in the BK-knockout cells was significantly lower than that in wild type osteoblast cells. The BK-knockout osteoblast cell line in our study displays a phenotype decrease in osteoblast function which can mimic the pathological state of osteoblast and thus provide a working cell line as a tool for study of osteoblast function and bone related diseases.