Bone is richly innervated by nerve growth factor–responsive (NGF-responsive) tropomyosin receptor kinase A–expressing (TrKa-expressing) sensory nerve fibers, which are required for osteochondral progenitor expansion during mammalian skeletal development. Aside from pain sensation, little is known regarding the role of sensory innervation in bone repair. Here, we characterized the reinnervation of tissue following experimental ulnar stress fracture and assessed the impact of loss of TrkA signaling in this process. Sequential histological data obtained in reporter mice subjected to fracture demonstrated a marked upregulation of NGF expression in periosteal stromal progenitors and fracture-associated macrophages. Sprouting and arborization of CGRP+TrkA+ sensory nerve fibers within the reactive periosteum in NGF-enriched cellular domains were evident at time points preceding periosteal vascularization, ossification, and mineralization. Temporal inhibition of TrkA catalytic activity by administration of 1NMPP1 to TrkAF592A mice significantly reduced the numbers of sensory fibers, blunted revascularization, and delayed ossification of the fracture callus. We observed similar deficiencies in nerve regrowth and fracture healing in a mouse model of peripheral neuropathy induced by paclitaxel treatment. Together, our studies demonstrate an essential role of TrkA signaling for stress fracture repair and implicate skeletal sensory nerves as an important upstream mediator of this repair process.
Zhu Li, Carolyn A. Meyers, Leslie Chang, Seungyong Lee, Zhi Li, Ryan Tomlinson, Ahmet Hoke, Thomas L. Clemens, Aaron W. James
The parathyroid hormone receptor (PTH1R) mediates the biologic actions of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHrP). Here, we showed that salt inducible kinases (SIKs) are key kinases that control the skeletal actions downstream of PTH1R and that this GPCR, when activated, inhibited cellular SIK activity. Sik gene deletion led to phenotypic changes that were remarkably similar to models of increased PTH1R signaling. In growth plate chondrocytes, PTHrP inhibited SIK3 and ablation of this kinase in proliferating chondrocytes rescued perinatal lethality of PTHrP-null mice. Combined deletion of Sik2/Sik3 in osteoblasts and osteocytes led to a dramatic increase in bone mass that closely resembled the skeletal and molecular phenotypes observed when these bone cells express a constitutively active PTH1R that causes Jansen’s metaphyseal chondrodysplasia. Finally, genetic evidence demonstrated that class IIa HDACs were key PTH1R-regulated SIK substrates in both chondrocytes and osteocytes. Taken together, our findings established that SIK inhibition is central to PTH1R action in bone development and remodeling. Furthermore, this work highlighted the key role of cAMP-regulated salt inducible kinases downstream of GPCR action.
Shigeki Nishimori, Maureen J. O'Meara, Christian Castro, Hiroshi Noda, Murat Cetinbas, Janaina da Silva Martins, Ugur Ayturk, Daniel J. Brooks, Michael Bruce, Mizuki Nagata, Wanida Ono, Christopher J. Janton, Mary L. Bouxsein, Marc Foretz, Rebecca Berdeaux, Ruslan I. Sadreyev, Thomas J. Gardella, Harald Jüppner, Henry M. Kronenberg, Marc N. Wein
Receptor activator of Nfkb ligand (RANKL) activates, while osteoprotegerin (OPG) inhibits, osteoclastogenesis. In turn a neutralizing Ab against RANKL, denosumab improves bone strength in osteoporosis. OPG also improves muscle strength in mouse models of Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (mdx) and denervation-induce atrophy, but its role and mechanisms of action on muscle weakness in other conditions remains to be investigated. We investigated the effects of RANKL inhibitors on muscle in osteoporotic women and mice that either overexpress RANKL (HuRANKL-Tg+), or lack Pparb and concomitantly develop sarcopenia (Pparb-/-). In women, denosumab over 3 years improved appendicular lean mass and handgrip strength compared to no treatment, whereas bisphosphonate did not. HuRANKL-Tg+ mice displayed lower limb force and maximal speed, while their leg muscle mass was diminished, with a lower number of type I and II fibers. Both OPG and denosumab increased limb force proportionally to the increase in muscle mass. They markedly improved muscle insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake, and decrease anti-myogenic and inflammatory gene expression in muscle, such as myostatin and protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-γ. Similarly, in Pparb-/-, OPG increased muscle volume and force, while also normalizing their insulin signaling and higher expression of inflammatory genes in skeletal muscle. In conclusions, RANKL deteriorates, while its inhibitor improves, muscle strength and insulin sensitivity in osteoporotic mice and humans. Hence denosumab could represent a novel therapeutic approach for sarcopenia.
Nicolas Bonnet, Lucie Bourgoin, Emmanuel Biver, Eleni Douni, Serge Ferrari
Lactation induces bone loss to provide sufficient calcium in the milk, a process that involves osteoclastic bone resorption but also osteocytes and perilacunar resorption. The exact mechanisms by which osteocytes contribute to bone loss remain elusive. Osteocytes express genes required in osteoclasts for bone resorption, including cathepsin K (Ctsk), and lactation elevates their expression. We show that Ctsk deletion in osteocytes prevented the increase in osteocyte lacunar area seen during lactation, as well as the effects of lactation to increase osteoclast numbers and decrease trabecular bone volume, cortical thickness and mechanical properties. In addition, Ctsk deletion in osteocytes increased bone Parathyroid Hormone related Peptide (PTHrP), prevented the decrease in serum Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) induced by lactation, but amplified the increase in serum 1,25(OH)2D. The net result of these changes is to maintain serum and milk calcium levels in the normal range, ensuring normal offspring skeletal development. Our studies confirm the fundamental role of osteocytic perilacunar remodeling in physiological states of lactation and provides genetic evidence that osteocyte-derived Ctsk contributes not only to osteocyte perilacunar remodeling, but also to the regulation of PTH, PTHrP, 1,25-Dyhydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), osteoclastogenesis and bone loss in response to the high calcium demand associated with lactation.
Sutada Lotinun, Yoshihito Ishihara, Kenichi Nagano, Riku Kiviranta, Vincent Carpentier, Lynn Neff, Virginia Parkman, Noriko Ide, Dorothy Hu, Pamela Dann, Daniel Brooks, Mary L. Bouxsein, John Wysolmerski, Francesca Gori, Roland Baron
Bariatric surgeries are integral to the management of obesity and its metabolic complications. However, these surgeries cause bone loss and increase fracture risk through poorly understood mechanisms. In a mouse model, vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) caused trabecular and cortical bone loss that was independent of sex, body weight, and diet, and this loss was characterized by impaired osteoid mineralization and bone formation. VSG had a profound effect on the bone marrow niche, with rapid loss of marrow adipose tissue, and expansion of myeloid cellularity, leading to increased circulating neutrophils. Following VSG, circulating granulocyte–colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was increased in mice, and was transiently elevated in a longitudinal study of humans. Elevation of G-CSF was found to recapitulate many effects of VSG on bone and the marrow niche. In addition to stimulatory effects of G-CSF on myelopoiesis, endogenous G-CSF suppressed development of marrow adipocytes and hindered accrual of peak cortical and trabecular bone. Effects of VSG on induction of neutrophils and depletion of marrow adiposity were reduced in mice deficient for G-CSF; however, bone mass was not influenced. Although not a primary mechanism for bone loss with VSG, G-CSF plays an intermediary role for effects of VSG on the bone marrow niche.
Ziru Li, Julie Hardij, Simon S. Evers, Chelsea R. Hutch, Sarah M. Choi, Yikai Shao, Brian S. Learman, Kenneth T. Lewis, Rebecca L. Schill, Hiroyuki Mori, Devika P. Bagchi, Steven M. Romanelli, Ki-Suk Kim, Emily Bowers, Cameron Griffin, Randy J. Seeley, Kanakadurga Singer, Darleen A. Sandoval, Clifford J. Rosen, Ormond A. MacDougald
The periosteum, a thin tissue that covers almost the entire bone surface, accounts for more than 80% of human bone mass and is essential for bone regeneration. Its osteogenic and bone regenerative abilities are well studied, but much is unknown about the periosteum. In this study, we found that macrophage-lineage cells recruit periosteum-derived cells (PDCs) for cortical bone formation. Knockout of colony stimulating factor-1 eliminated macrophage-lineage cells and resulted in loss of PDCs with impaired periosteal bone formation. Moreover, macrophage-lineage TRAP+ cells induced transcriptional expression of periostin and recruitment of PDCs to the periosteal surface through secretion of platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), where the recruited PDCs underwent osteoblast differentiation coupled with type H vessel formation. We also found that subsets of Nestin+ and LepR+ PDCs possess multipotent and self-renewal abilities and contribute to cortical bone formation. Nestin+ PDCs are found primarily during bone development, whereas LepR+ PDCs are essential for bone homeostasis in adult mice. Importantly, conditional knockout of Pdgfrβ (platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta) in LepR+ cells impaired periosteal bone formation and regeneration. These findings uncover the essential role of periosteal macrophage-lineage cells in regulating periosteum homeostasis and regeneration.
Bo Gao, Ruoxian Deng, Yu Chai, Hao Chen, Bo Hu, Xiao Wang, Shouan Zhu, Yong Cao, Shuangfei Ni, Mei Wan, Liu Yang, Zhuojing Luo, Xu Cao
Bone osteogenic sarcoma has a poor prognosis as the exact cell of origin and the signaling pathways underling tumor formation remain undefined. Here, we report an osteogenic tumor mouse model based on the conditional knockout of liver kinase b1 (Lkb1; also known as Stk11) in Cathepsin K (Ctsk)-Cre expressing cells. Lineage tracing studies demonstrated that Ctsk-Cre could label a population of periosteal cells. The cells functioned as mesenchymal progenitors with regard to markers and functional properties. LKB1 deficiency increased proliferation and osteoblast differentiation of Ctsk+ periosteal cells, while downregulation of mTORC1 activity, using Raptor genetic mouse model or mTORC1 inhibitor treatment, ameliorated tumor progression of Ctsk-Cre Lkb1fllfl mice. Xenograft mouse models, using human osteosarcoma cell lines, also demonstrated that LKB1 deficiency promoted tumor formation, while mTOR inhibition suppressed xenograft tumor growth. In summary, we identified periosteum-derived Ctsk-Cre expressing cells as a cell of origin for osteogenic tumor and suggested the LKB1-mTORC1 pathway as a promising target for treatment of osteogenic tumor.
Yujiao Han, Heng Feng, Jun Sun, Xiaoting Liang, Zhuo Wang, Wenhui Xing, Qinggang Dai, Yang Yang, Anjia Han, Zhanying Wei, Qing Bi, Hongbin Ji, Tiebang Kang, Weiguo Zou
Joint pain is the defining symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) but its origin and mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated an unprecedented role of osteoclast-initiated subchondral bone remodeling in sensory innervation for OA pain. We show that osteoclasts secrete NETRIN1 to induce sensory nerve axonal growth in subchondral bone. Reduction of osteoclast formation by knockout of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (Rankl) in osteocytes inhibited the growth of sensory nerves into subchondral bone, DRG neuron hyperexcitability, and behavioral measures of pain hypersensitivity in OA mice. Moreover, we demonstrated a possible role for NETRIN1 secreted by osteoclasts during aberrant subchondral bone remodeling in inducing sensory innervation and OA pain through its receptor DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer). Importantly, knockout of Netrin1 in tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) positive osteoclasts or knockdown of Dcc reduces OA pain behavior. In particular, inhibition of osteoclast activity by alendronate modifies aberrant subchondral bone remodeling and reduces innervation and pain behavior at the early stage of OA. These results suggest that intervention of the axonal guidance molecules (e.g. NETRIN1) derived from aberrant subchondral bone remodeling may have therapeutic potential for OA pain.
Shouan Zhu, Jianxi Zhu, Gehua Zhen, Yihe Hu, Senbo An, Yusheng Li, Qin Zheng, Zhiyong Chen, Ya Yang, Mei Wan, Richard Leroy Skolasky, Yong Cao, Tianding Wu, Bo Gao, Mi Yang, Manman Gao, Julia Kuliwaba, Shuangfei Ni, Lei Wang, Chuanlong Wu, David Findlay, Holger K. Eltzschig, Hong Wei Ouyang, Janet Crane, Feng-Quan Zhou, Yun Guan, Xinzhong Dong, Xu Cao
Notch signaling critically controls cell fate decisions in mammals, both during embryogenesis and in adults. In the skeleton, Notch suppresses osteoblast differentiation and sustains bone marrow mesenchymal progenitors during postnatal life. Stabilizing mutations of Notch2 cause the Hajdu-Cheney syndrome characterized by early onset osteoporosis in humans, but the mechanism whereby Notch inhibits bone accretion is not fully understood. Here we report that activation of Notch signaling by either Jagged1 or Notch2 intracellular domain suppresses glucose metabolism and osteoblast differentiation in primary cultures of bone marrow mesenchymal progenitors. Importantly, deletion of Notch2 in the limb mesenchyme increases both glycolysis and bone formation in the long bones of postnatal mice, whereas pharmacological reduction of glycolysis abrogates the excessive bone formation. Mechanistically, Notch reduces the expression of glycolytic and mitochondrial Complex I genes, resulting in a decease in mitochondrial respiration, superoxide production and Ampk activity. Forced activation of Ampk restores glycolysis in the face of Notch signaling. Thus, suppression of glucose metabolism contributes to the mechanism whereby Notch restricts osteoblastogenesis from bone marrow mesenchymal progenitors.
Seung-Yon Lee, Fanxin Long
Hyperphosphatemic familial tumoral calcinosis (HFTC)/hyperostosis-hyperphosphatemia syndrome (HHS) is an autosomal recessive disorder of ectopic calcification due to deficiency of or resistance to intact fibroblast growth factor 23 (iFGF23). Inactivating mutations in FGF23, N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 3 (GALNT3), or KLOTHO have been reported to cause HFTC/HHS. We present the first identified case of autoimmune hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis in an 8-year-old boy. In addition to the classical clinical and biochemical features of hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis, the patient exhibited markedly elevated intact and C-terminal FGF23 levels suggestive of FGF23 resistance. However, no mutations in FGF23, KLOTHO, or fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) were identified. He subsequently developed type 1 diabetes mellitus, which raised the possibility of an autoimmune cause for hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis. Luciferase immunoprecipitation systems revealed significantly elevated FGF23 autoantibodies without detectable FGFR1 or KLOTHO autoantibodies. Using an in vitro FGF23 functional assay, the FGF23 autoantibodies in the patient’s plasma blocked downstream signaling via the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, this report describes the first case of autoimmune hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis with pathogenic autoantibodies targeting FGF23. Identification of this pathophysiology extends the etiologic spectrum of hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis and suggests that immunomodulatory therapy may be an effective treatment.
Mary Scott Roberts, Peter D. Burbelo, Daniela Egli-Spichtig, Farzana Perwad, Christopher J. Romero, Shoji Ichikawa, Emily G. Farrow, Michael J. Econs, Lori C. Guthrie, Michael T. Collins, Rachel I. Gafni