Myostatin expression in age and denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy.

Myostatin is hypothesized to regulate skeletal muscle mass and to be a potential target for therapeutic intervention in sarcopenia. To clarify whether myostatin is invariably associated with sarcopenia, this study examined the levels of expression of myostatin mRNA and protein in Sprague Dawley rats during aging- and denervation-induced sarcopenia. The level of myostatin mRNA in the gastrocnemius decreased progressively with age being 9, 34 and 56% lower at 6, 12 and 27 months, respectively, compared with mRNA levels at 1.5 months. In contrast, two low molecular mass isoforms of myostatin protein identified by Western blotting increased progressively with age. With denervation, myostatin mRNA was 31% higher on day 1 but by 14 days after sciatic neurectomy when the muscle had atrophied 50%, myostatin expression decreased 34% relative to the sham operated limb. Western analysis of the denervated gastrocnemius showed that myostatin protein levels varied in parallel with mRNA. These disparate patterns of expression of myostatin during age- and denervation-induced atrophy suggest that the regulation of myostatin is complex and variable depending on whether the atrophy is slowly or rapidly progressive.

Regulation of osteoclast differentiation by statins.

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) treatment is frontline therapy for lowering plasma cholesterol levels in patients with hyperlipidemia. In a few case studies, analysis of clinical data has revealed a decreased risk of fracture in patients on statin therapy. However, this reduction in the incidence of fracture is not always observed nor is it supported by an increase in bone density, which further complicates our understanding of the role of statins in bone metabolism. Thus, the precise role of statins in bone metabolism remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effect of statin treatment on osteoclastogenesis. Treatment with lovastatin resulted in a significant, dose-dependent decrease in the numbers of differentiated osteoclasts and decreased cholesterol biosynthesis activity with an EC(50) similar to that observed in freshly isolated rat or cultured human liver cells. Studies assessing the role of mevalonate metabolites in the development of the osteoclasts demonstrated that geranylgeraniol, but not squalene or farnesol was important for the development and differentiation of osteoclasts, implicating protein geranylgeranylation rather than protein farnesylation as a key factor in the osteoclast differentiation process. In conclusion, our data indicate that lovastatin inhibits osteoclast development through inhibition of geranylgeranylation of key prenylated proteins and that the bone effects of statins are at least partially due to their effects on osteoclast numbers.

Regulation of BMP-7 expression by retinoic acid and prostaglandin E(2).

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) gene superfamily of growth and differentiation factors. Members of the BMP family were originally cloned and characterized by their ability to induce ectopic bone formation. Of the various BMPs cloned, the bone inductive ability of BMP-7 (OP-1) and BMP-2 has been well characterized. Both BMP-7 and -2 have been shown to have clinical utility in the healing of non-union fractures. However, in spite of the various advances in BMP research, the physiological regulation of BMPs is not well understood. Here we studied the expression of BMP-7 by cloning a 4.6-kB fragment of the human BMP-7 promoter (hBMP-7p) and placing it upstream of a luciferase reporter. The promoter reporter construct was stably transfected into different cell backgrounds and its regulation by various factors was investigated. We show that retinoic acid (RA) treatment results in an upregulation of the hBMP-7p reporter activity. This regulation of the hBMP-7p was further confirmed by Northern blot, PCR, and Western blot analyses, which showed an increase in both BMP-7 mRNA and protein expression upon treatment with RA. We further show that RA specifically upregulates expression of osteocalcin via activation of BMP-7 mRNA and protein in vitro. Similarly, prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) treatment increases BMP-7 mRNA and protein levels, but does not transcriptionally activate the hBMP-7p. Additionally, in vivo expression of BMP-7 in bone was increased upon PGE(2) treatment. In conclusion, RA and PGE(2) upregulate BMP-7 protein expression both in vitro and in vivo.

Matrix metalloproteinase-3 (stromelysin-1). Identification as the cartilage acid metalloprotease and effect of pH on catalytic properties and calcium affinity.

Human pro-MMP-3 (pro-matrix metalloproteinase-3) was purified from three sources: articular cartilage and conditioned media from synovial fibroblasts and Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing recombinant pro-MMP-3. All three preparations reacted with two monoclonal antibodies specific for human fibroblast pro-MMP-3. Each preparation of active MMP-3 possessed properties identical to those previously reported for the cartilage acid metalloproteinase (MMP-6; Azzo and Woessner, J. F., Jr. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 5434-5441): an acid pH optimum of 5.3-5.5 for digestion of cartilage aggrecan; digestion of oxidized insulin B-chain at Ala14-Leu15 and Tyr16-Leu17 in a ratio of 3:1; and heat stability at neutral pH. Further characterization of MMP-3 establishes that the acid pH optimum for cartilage aggrecan is not due to substrate denaturation since the same optimum is found by viscosity assay, by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay of G1 domain, and by digestion of aggrecan in fresh cartilage fragments in vitro. Fibronectin was also digested optimally at pH 5.5 and NH2-terminal sequence analysis revealed no pH change in a major proteolytic site of cleavage at the Pro689-Leu690 bond. The specificity constant kcat/Km is maximal at pH 5.5 as determined in a quenched fluorescence peptide assay. This is due to an increase in kcat at pH 5.5 without any substantial effect on Km. The affinity of MMP-3 for calcium is decreased about 10-fold at pH 5.3 compared to neutral pH. Finally, the neutral cartilage metalloproteinase is identified as 72-kDa pro-MMP-2 based on M(r), specificity of insulin B-chain cleavage, and reactivity with a specific polyclonal antibody to human MMP-2.

Recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cell matrix metalloprotease-3 (MMP-3, stromelysin-1). Role of calcium in promatrix metalloprotease-3 (pro-MMP-3, prostromelysin-1) activation and thermostability of the low mass catalytic domain of MMP-3.

Recombinant human fibroblast pro-MMP-3 (prostromelysin-1) expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and the zymogen from cultured human dermal fibroblasts have been purified by monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity chromatography, and the role of Ca2+ in proenzyme activation and thermostability of the low mass catalytic domain of MMP-3 has been investigated. In the presence of high Ca2+ (5.0 mM), the organomercurial aminophenylmercuric acetate (APMA) initiated the stepwise removal of both NH2- and COOH-terminal domains from both recombinant and dermal fibroblast proenzymes, resulting in the generation of a heterogeneous family of nonglycosylated low mass truncated active enzyme species beginning at Phe83. However, in the presence of low Ca2+ (0.1 mM), incubation of recombinant pro-MMP-3 with or without APMA did not result in formation of either the high or low mass forms of active MMP-3 but resulted in complete autolysis of both enzyme species. The concentration of Ca2+ required for optimal pro-MMP-3 activation and stability of the low mass catalytic domain was 2.0 mM. The low mass truncated enzyme species containing the catalytic domain were remarkably heat-stable (90 min at 60 degrees C) in high Ca2+ (5.0 mM) but rapidly autolyzed when heated at 60 degrees C in low Ca2+ (0.1 mM). The thermostability properties of MMP-3 appeared to be specific for Ca2+, since no other divalent metal ions tested were able to confer thermostability to the low mass catalytic domain of MMP-3. From homology to the thermostable bacterial metalloprotease, thermolysin, two putative Ca2+ binding sites were found in the catalytic domain of MMP-3 and several other members of the MMP gene family. These putative Ca2+ binding sites are postulated to play an important role in stabilizing active MMP-3 and other members of the matrix metalloprotease gene family by protecting them against autolysis.