Bone mass accrual is a major determinant of skeletal mass, governed by bone remodeling, which consists of bone resorption by osteoclasts and bone formation by osteoblasts. Bone mass accrual is inhibited by sympathetic signaling centrally regulated through activation of receptors for serotonin, leptin, and ACh. However, skeletal activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) has not been reported at the bone level. Here we report skeletal immune-positive fibers for the PSNS marker vesicular ACh transporter (VAChT). Pseudorabies virus inoculated into the distal femoral metaphysis is identifiable in the sacral intermediolateral cell column and central autonomic nucleus, demonstrating PSNS femoral innervation originating in the spinal cord. The PSNS neurotransmitter ACh targets nicotinic (nAChRs), but not muscarinic receptors in bone cells, affecting mainly osteoclasts. nAChR agonists up-regulate osteoclast apoptosis and restrain bone resorption. Mice deficient of the α 2 nAChR subunit have increased bone resorption and low bone mass. Silencing of the IL-1 receptor signaling in the central nervous system by brain-specific overexpression of the human IL-1 receptor antagonist (hIL1ra Ast +/+ mice) leads to very low skeletal VAChT expression and ACh levels. These mice also exhibit increased bone resorption and low bone mass. In WT but not in hIL1ra Ast +/+ mice, the cholinergic ACh esterase inhibitor pyridostigmine increases ACh levels and bone mass apparently by inhibiting bone resorption. Taken together, these results identify a previously unexplored key central IL-1-parasympathetic-bone axis that antagonizes the skeletal sympathetic tone, thus potently favoring bone mass accrual.autonomic nervous system | postnatal skeletal development

Bone mass is determined by a continuous remodeling process, whereby the mineralized matrix is being removed by osteoclasts and subsequently replaced with newly formed bone tissue produced by osteoblasts. Here we report the presence of endogenous amides of long-chain fatty acids with amino acids or with ethanolamine (N-acyl amides) in mouse bone. Of these compounds, N-oleoyl-L-serine (OS) had the highest activity in an osteoblast proliferation assay. In these cells, OS triggers a Gi-protein-coupled receptor and Erk1/2. It also mitigates osteoclast number by promoting osteoclast apoptosis through the inhibition of Erk1/2 phosphorylation and receptor activator of nuclear-κB ligand (RANKL) expression in bone marrow stromal cells and osteoblasts. In intact mice, OS moderately increases bone volume density mainly by inhibiting bone resorption. However, in a mouse ovariectomy (OVX) model for osteoporosis, OS effectively rescues bone loss by increasing bone formation and markedly restraining bone resorption. The differential effect of exogenous OS in the OVX vs. intact animals is apparently a result of an OVX-induced decrease in skeletal OS levels. These data show that OS is a previously unexplored lipid regulator of bone remodeling. It represents a lead to antiosteoporotic drug discovery, advantageous to currently available therapies, which are essentially either proformative or antiresorptive.fatty acyl amides I n mammals, including humans, bone mass is determined by an unremitting remodeling process whereby the mineralized matrix is continuously removed by osteoclasts and subsequently replaced with newly formed bone tissue produced by osteoblasts. This process is regulated by autocrine/paracrine factors, such as receptor activator of nuclear-κB ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG), bone morphogenetic proteins, and Wnt, as well as circulating hormones (e.g., sex steroids, parathyroid hormone) and brain-derived signals (e.g., sympathetic, pituitary) (1-3). Imbalanced bone remodeling leads to skeletal pathologies, mainly osteoporosis, the most common degenerative disorder in affluent societies, which results from a net increase in bone resorption (4). Identification of endogenous constituents, which regulate bone remodeling and skeletal mass, contributes to the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in this process and offers promise for developing novel antiosteoporotic pharmacotherapy.Amides of long-chain fatty acids with amino acids or with ethanolamine (N-acyl amides) represent a major group of endogenous lipids. In mammalian tissues they have numerous physiological functions. For example, anandamide (arachidonoyl ethanolamide) is the first identified endogenous psychoactive ligand of cannabinoid receptors (5); arachidonoyl serine is an endogenous vasodilator, which does not bind to the cannabinoid receptors (6); and oleoyl ethanolamide is an endogenous structural analog to anandamide that regulates food intake through the activation of GPR 119 (7, 8). The well-established biosynthetic tendency to follow existing p...

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