Osteoblasts and adipocytes are derived from a common precursor in bone marrow, the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). Factors driving human MSCs (hMSCs) to differentiate down the two lineages play important roles in determining bone density because it has been shown that bone volume loss associated with osteoporosis and aging is accompanied by reduced osteoblastic bone formation and increased marrow adipose tissue. The genes upregulated in hMSCs during osteogenic differentiation were screened using cDNA microarrays and were semi‐quantitated by real‐time RT‐PCR. One of the genes identified was sortilin, which was upregulated one day after osteogenic induction and remained upregulated for a week. The overexpression of sortilin in hMSCs using an adenovirus vector resulted in the acceleration of mineralization during osteogenic differentiation without affecting alkaline phosphatase activity. Lipoprotein lipase (LPL), produced by adipocytes, is bound by sortilin, which may mediate its endocytosis. By adding LPL to osteogenic induction medium, osteoblastic mineralization was inhibited in a dose‐dependent manner. Interestingly, sortilin overexpression abolished the LPL‐mediated suppression of osteogenic differentiation. hMSCs exist in marrow where LPL‐producing adipose cells are abundant and where osteogenesis is negatively regulated by LPL. Sortilin has a counter effect of promoting osteogenesis by acting as a scavenger of LPL. J. Cell. Physiol. 193: 73–79, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.