Stimulatory G protein directly regulates hypertrophic differentiation of growth plate cartilage in vivo

M Bastepe, LS Weinstein, N Ogata… - Proceedings of the …, 2004 - National Acad Sciences
M Bastepe, LS Weinstein, N Ogata, H Kawaguchi, H Jüppner, HM Kronenberg, U Chung
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2004National Acad Sciences
Stimulatory heterotrimeric G protein (Gs) transduces signals from various cell-surface
receptors to adenylyl cyclases, which generate cAMP. The α subunit of Gs (Gsα) is encoded
by GNAS (Gnas in mice), and heterozygous Gsα inactivating mutations lead to Albright
hereditary osteodystrophy. The in vivo role of Gsα in skeletogenesis is largely unknown,
because of early embryonic lethality of mice with disruption of Gnas exon 2 (GnasE2–/E2–)
and the absence of easily detectable phenotypes in growth plate chondrocytes of …
Stimulatory heterotrimeric G protein (Gs) transduces signals from various cell-surface receptors to adenylyl cyclases, which generate cAMP. The α subunit of Gs (Gsα) is encoded by GNAS (Gnas in mice), and heterozygous Gsα inactivating mutations lead to Albright hereditary osteodystrophy. The in vivo role of Gsα in skeletogenesis is largely unknown, because of early embryonic lethality of mice with disruption of Gnas exon 2 (GnasE2/E2) and the absence of easily detectable phenotypes in growth plate chondrocytes of heterozygous mutant mice (Gnas+/E2). We generated chimeric mice containing wild-type cells and either GnasE2/E2 or Gnas+/E2 cells. GnasE2/E2 chondrocytes phenocopied PTH/PTHrP receptor (PPR)–/– cells by prematurely undergoing hypertrophy. Introduction of a transgene expressing Gsα, one of several gene products that include Gnas exon 2, into GnasE2/E2 cells prevented premature hypertrophy. Gsα mRNA expression detected by real-time RT-PCR analysis was reduced to approximately half that of the wild-type in both paternal and maternal Gnas+/E2 growth plate chondrocytes, indicating biallelic expression of Gsα in these cells. Hypertrophy of Gnas+/E2 chondrocytes was modestly but significantly premature in chimeric growth plates of mice containing wild-type and Gnas+/E2 cells. These data suggest that Gsα is the primary mediator of the actions of PPR in growth plate chondrocytes and that there is haploinsufficiency of Gsα signaling in Gnas+/E2 chondrocytes.
National Acad Sciences