Concanamycin B, a vacuolar H(+)-ATPase specific inhibitor suppresses bone resorption in vitro.

Effects of concanamycin B, a specific inhibitor of the vacuolar type H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase), on the stimulation of bone resorption induced by parathyroid hormone (PTH) were examined in vitro. Concanamycin B was found to inhibit PTH-stimulated osteoclastic pit formation and to suppress the acidification of vacuolar organelles by V-ATPase in the osteoclasts. PTH-stimulated 45Ca release from prelabelled chick embryonic calvariae was also inhibited by concanamycin B in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that osteoclastic acidification of lacunae by V-ATPase plays an essential role in mineral dissolution and degradation of the organic matrix during bone resorption.