ABSTRACT I CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL NUCLEAR VARIANT OF BMP2Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) is a signaling protein that was first detected by its ability to induce cartilage and bone formation. It has since been implicated in broad variety of developmental, patterning, and disease processes. To date, Bmp2 has only been known to function as an extracellular signaling molecule. However, we have obtained clear evidence for a nuclear form of Bmp2. This nuclear variant, nBmp2, contains a bipartite NLS that overlaps the site of proteolytic cleavage. The NLS remains intact and functional when translation of Bmp2 initiates from a downstream alternative start codon. The resulting protein lacks the signal peptide and is therefore translated in the cytoplasm rather than the endoplasmic reticulum, thus avoiding proteolytic processing and secretion. Instead, the uncleaved protein containing the intact NLS is translocated to the nucleus. Preliminary functional analyses in zebrafish indicate that nBmp2 is critical for proper heart development. To determine if this function is conserved in mammals, we have also generated mice harboring a null allele for nBmp2. ABSTRACT II COORDINATE REGULATION OF COL11A2 AND COL27A1 BY THE TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR LC-MAF During skeletal development, long bones of the body develop from a cartilage template that is progressively replaced by bone. This process of endochondral ossification requires precisely coordinated expression of extracellular matrix proteins such as the cartilage-specific collagens. In this study, enhancer/reporter assays demonstrated that the transcription factor Lc-Maf inhibits the transcriptional activity of a cartilage-specific Col11a2 enhancer element while a cartilage-specific COL27A1 enhancer element was strongly activated by Lc-Maf. Site-directed mutagenesis identified the binding region within the COL27A1 enhancer, and it was found to be unlike any known consensus Maf family binding site. The in vivo significance of these results was examined using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization in mouse limbs undergoing endochondral ossification. Taken together, these results suggest that Lc-Maf participates in the developmental transition from proliferating to hypertrophic chondrocytes during endochondral ossification by coordinately downregulating Col11a2 and upregulating Col27a1 collagen gene expression.