Nephronectin (Npnt), an extracellular matrix protein, is considered to play critical roles in development of various tissues and their functions. In basic science experiments, we found that interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), well known to have an important role in inflammatory response, inhibited Npnt gene expression in MOT3-E1 cells, a mouse osteoblastic cell line. The purpose of this study was to investigate mechanisms that govern the regulation of Npnt gene expression by IL-1 beta in osteoblasts. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.