Osteoclast size is controlled by Fra-2 through LIF/LIF-receptor signalling and hypoxia.

Osteoclasts are multinucleated haematopoietic cells that resorb bone. Increased osteoclast activity causes osteoporosis, a disorder resulting in a low bone mass and a high risk of fractures. Increased osteoclast size and numbers are also a hallmark of other disorders, such as Paget's disease and multiple myeloma. The protein c-Fos, a component of the AP-1 transcription factor complex, is essential for osteoclast differentiation. Here we show that the Fos-related protein Fra-2 controls osteoclast survival and size. The bones of Fra-2-deficient newborn mice have giant osteoclasts, and signalling through leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and its receptor is impaired. Similarly, newborn animals lacking LIF have giant osteoclasts, and we show that LIF is a direct transcriptional target of Fra-2 and c-Jun. Moreover, bones deficient in Fra-2 and LIF are hypoxic and express increased levels of hypoxia-induced factor 1alpha (HIF1alpha) and Bcl-2. Overexpression of Bcl-2 is sufficient to induce giant osteoclasts in vivo, whereas Fra-2 and LIF affect HIF1alpha through transcriptional modulation of the HIF prolyl hydroxylase PHD2. This pathway is operative in the placenta, because specific inactivation of Fra-2 in the embryo alone does not cause hypoxia or the giant osteoclast phenotype. Thus placenta-induced hypoxia during embryogenesis leads to the formation of giant osteoclasts in young pups. These findings offer potential targets for the treatment of syndromes associated with increased osteoclastogenesis.

The AP1 transcription factor Fra2 is required for efficient cartilage development.

The Fos-related AP1 transcription factor Fra2 (encoded by Fosl2) is expressed in various epithelial cells as well as in cartilaginous structures. We studied the role of Fra2 in cartilage development. The absence of Fra2 in embryos and newborns leads to reduced zones of hypertrophic chondrocytes and impaired matrix deposition in femoral and tibial growth plates, probably owing to impaired differentiation into hypertrophic chondrocytes. In addition, hypertrophic differentiation and ossification of primordial arches of the developing vertebrae are delayed in Fra2-deficient embryos. Primary Fosl2-/- chondrocytes exhibit decreased hypertrophic differentiation and remain in a proliferative state longer than wild-type cells. As pups lacking Fra2 die shortly after birth, we generated mice carrying 'floxed' Fosl2 alleles and crossed them to coll2a1-Cre mice, allowing investigation of postnatal cartilage development. The coll2a1-Cre, Fosl2f/f mice die between 10 and 25 days after birth, are growth retarded and display smaller growth plates similar to Fosl2-/- embryos. In addition, these mice suffer from a kyphosis-like phenotype, an abnormal bending of the spine. Hence, Fra2 is a novel transcription factor important for skeletogenesis by affecting chondrocyte differentiation.

The Fos-related antigen Fra-1 is an activator of bone matrix formation.

Ectopic expression of the transcription factor Fra-1 in transgenic mice leads to osteosclerosis, a bone disorder characterized by increased bone mass. The molecular basis for this phenotype is unknown and Fra-1 functions cannot be studied by a conventional loss-of-function approach, since fra-1-knockout mice die in utero likely due to placental defects. Here we show that the lethality of fra-1-knockout mice can be rescued by specific deletion of Fra-1 only in the mouse embryo and not in the placenta. Mice lacking Fra-1 (fra-1(delta/delta)) are viable and develop osteopenia, a low bone mass disease. Long bones of fra-1(delta/delta) mice appear to have normal osteoclasts but express reduced amounts of bone matrix components produced by osteoblasts and chondrocytes such as osteocalcin, collagen1a2 and matrix Gla protein. The gene for matrix Gla protein seems to be a specific target of Fra-1 since its expression was markedly increased in the long bones of fra-1-transgenic mice. These results uncover a novel function of Fra-1 in regulating bone mass through bone matrix production by osteoblasts and chondrocytes.

Mice lacking JunB are osteopenic due to cell-autonomous osteoblast and osteoclast defects.

Because JunB is an essential gene for placentation, it was conditionally deleted in the embryo proper. JunBDelta/Delta mice are born viable, but develop severe low turnover osteopenia caused by apparent cell-autonomous osteoblast and osteoclast defects before a chronic myeloid leukemia-like disease. Although JunB was reported to be a negative regulator of cell proliferation, junBDelta/Delta osteoclast precursors and osteoblasts show reduced proliferation along with a differentiation defect in vivo and in vitro. Mutant osteoblasts express elevated p16(INK4a) levels, but exhibit decreased cyclin D1 and cyclin A expression. Runx2 is transiently increased during osteoblast differentiation in vitro, whereas mature osteoblast markers such as osteocalcin and bone sialoprotein are strongly reduced. To support a cell-autonomous function of JunB in osteoclasts, junB was inactivated specifically in the macrophage-osteoclast lineage. Mutant mice develop an osteopetrosis-like phenotype with increased bone mass and reduced numbers of osteoclasts. Thus, these data reveal a novel function of JunB as a positive regulator controlling primarily osteoblast as well as osteoclast activity.

Mice humanised for the EGF receptor display hypomorphic phenotypes in skin, bone and heart.

Mice lacking the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) develop epithelial defects and a neurodegenerative disease and die within the first month of birth. By employing a conditional knock-in approach using the human EGFR cDNA mice humanised for EGFR (hEGFRKI/KI) were generated. Homozygous hEGFRKI/KI mice are viable and live up to six months. However, these mice are growth retarded and show skin and hair defects similar to Egfr-/- mutants. Interestingly, the neurodegeneration is fully rescued in hEGFRKI/KI mice, however, they develop a severe heart hypertrophy with semilunar valve abnormalities. Moreover, hEGFRKI/KI mice display accelerated chondrocyte and osteoblast differentiation, a phenotype that is also present in Egfr-/- mice and has not been previously described. The severity of the phenotypes correlates with the expression levels of the hEGFRKI allele, which is not efficiently expressed in epithelial and bone cells, but is expressed at similar and even higher levels as the endogenous Egfr in brain and heart. These results demonstrate that mice humanised for EGFR display tissue-specific hypomorphic phenotypes and describe a novel function for EGFR in bone development.

Regulation of bone resorption and formation by purines and pyrimidines.

Growing evidence suggests that extracellular nucleotides, signalling through P2 receptors, might play important roles in the regulation of bone and cartilage metabolism. ATP and other nucleotides can exert impressive stimulatory effects on the formation and activity of osteoclasts (bone-resorbing cells) in addition to inhibiting bone formation by osteoblasts. In this review, the current understanding of the actions of nucleotides on skeletal cells and the probable receptor subtypes involved are discussed.

Hypoxia is a major stimulator of osteoclast formation and bone resorption.

Hypoxia is known to act as a general stimulator of cells derived from marrow precursors. We investigated the effect of oxygen tension on the formation and function of osteoclasts, the cells responsible for bore resorption, which are of promonocytic origin. Using 7- and 13-day cultures of mouse marrow cells on ivory discs, we found that reducing oxygen tension from the ambient atmospheric level of 20% by increasing the proportion of nitrogen caused progressive increases in the formation of multinucleated osteoclasts and resorption pits. Peak effects occurred in 2% oxygen, where stimulations of resorption up to 21-fold were measured. Significant stimulations of osteoclast formation and resorption were observed even in severely hypoxic cultures gassed with 0.2% oxygen. Short-term cultures of cells disaggregated from rat bones indicated that hypoxia did not alter the resorptive activity of mature osteoclasts, but reduced their survival or adherence. In 3-day organ cultures of mouse calvarial bones, exposure to 2% oxygen resulted in maximal, fivefold stimulation of osteoclast-mediated calcium release, an effect equivalent to that of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), a reference osteolytic agent. Hypoxia also caused a moderate acidosis in calvarial cultures, presumably as a result of increased anaerobic metabolism; this observation is significant because osteoclast activation is dependent on extracellular acidification. Our experiments reveal a previously-overlooked mechanism of considerable potential importance for the regulation of bone destruction. These findings may help explain the bone loss associated with a wide range of pathological states involving local or systemic hypoxia, and emphasize the importance of the vasculature in bone.

ATP and UTP at low concentrations strongly inhibit bone formation by osteoblasts: a novel role for the P2Y2 receptor in bone remodeling.

There is increasing evidence that extracellular nucleotides act on bone cells via multiple P2 receptors. The naturally-occurring ligand ATP is a potent agonist at all receptor subtypes, whereas ADP and UTP only act at specific receptor subtypes. We have reported that the formation and resorptive activity of rodent osteoclasts are stimulated powerfully by both extracellular ATP and its first degradation product, ADP, the latter acting at nanomolar concentrations, probably via the P2Y1 receptor subtype. In the present study, we investigated the actions of ATP, ADP, adenosine, and UTP on osteoblastic function. In 16-21 day cultures of primary rat calvarial osteoblasts, ADP and the selective P2Y1 agonist 2-methylthioADP were without effect on bone nodule formation at concentrations between 1 and 125 microM, as was adenosine. However, UTP, a P2Y2 and P2Y4 receptor agonist, known to be without effect on osteoclast function, strongly inhibited bone nodule formation at concentrations >or= 1 microM. ATP was inhibitory at >or= 10 microM. Rat osteoblasts express P2Y2, but not P2Y4 receptor mRNA, as determined by in situ hybridization. Thus, the low-dose effects of extracellular nucleotides on bone formation and bone resorption appear to be mediated via different P2Y receptor subtypes: ADP, signalling through the P2Y1 receptor on both osteoclasts and osteoblasts, is a powerful stimulator of osteoclast formation and activity, whereas UTP, signalling via the P2Y2 receptor on osteoblasts, blocks bone formation by osteoblasts. ATP, the 'universal' agonist, can simultaneously stimulate resorption and inhibit bone formation. These findings suggest that extracellular nucleotides could function locally as important negative modulators of bone metabolism, perhaps contributing to bone loss in a number of pathological states.