No abstract

ABSTRACT

Long-term administration of pharmacological doses of glucocorticoids inhibits bone formation and results in osteoporosis. Since integrin-mediated cell-matrix interactions are essential for osteoblast function, we hypothesized that the detrimental effect of glucocorticoids on bone derived, at least in part, from decreased integrin-matrix interactions. Because alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 integrins can interact with several bone matrix proteins, we analyzed the effects of dexamethasone (Dex) on the expression of these integrins in normal human osteoblastic cells. We found adhesion of these cells to osteopontin and vitronectin to be dependent on alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5, respectively; this ligand specificity was not altered by Dex. The effects of Dex on the adhesion of human osteoblastic cells to osteopontin and vitronectin were biphasic with an increase after 2 days, followed by a decrease after 8 days of treatment. Consistently, surface alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 integrins, which were increased after 2 days of Dex treatment, were decreased after 8 days. Similarly, total cellular alphav, beta3, and beta5 proteins, which were increased by Dex early in the culture, were diminished after 8 days. Metabolic labeling studies indicated that Dex exhibited biphasic regulation on the biosynthesis of alphavbeta5, with stimulation observed during the second day of treatment, followed by inhibition during the 8th day of exposure. By contrast, the biosynthesis of alphavbeta3 was inhibited by Dex on day 1 and remained inhibited on day 8. Analysis of the mRNA indicated that alphav and beta5 levels were increased by Dex during early exposure (1-3 days), followed by inhibition after prolonged exposure (>/=7 days). By contrast, Dex decreased beta3 mRNA level at all the time points analyzed. Consistently, Dex decreased beta3 promoter activity after 1 day and persisted over 8-day period. By contrast, Dex stimulated beta5 promoter activity after 1 or 2 days but had no effect after 8 days. To further evaluate mechanism(s) leading to the decreased integrin expression after prolonged Dex treatment, mRNA stability was analyzed. Dex was found to accelerate the degradation of alphav, beta3 and beta5 mRNA after an 8-day treatment. Thus, the regulation of alphavbeta3 was dependent on transcription and posttranscriptional events whereas the expression of alphavbeta5 was dependent mainly on posttranscriptional events after prolonged Dex treatment. In conclusion, Dex exhibited time-dependent regulation on the expression of alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 integrins in normal human osteoblastic cells. Short-term exposure to Dex increased the levels of alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 on the surface and cell adhesion to osteopontin and vitronectin whereas long-term exposure to Dex decreased the expression of both integrins and inhibited the cell adhesion to matrix proteins.

PTH-related protein (PTHrP), similarly to PTH, stimulates cAMP production in target tissues. However, different potencies have been observed for the two peptides in some biological assays, suggesting that cAMP-independent second messenger pathways might be involved in PTHrP signal transduction. This hypothesis was tested in the osteogenic sarcoma cell line UMR 106-01. Addition of PTHrP-(1-34) to cell suspensions loaded with the Ca2+ indicator indo-1 produced a transient dose-dependent increase in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i), with a maximal effect at 2 x 10(-7) M and an ED0.5 at about 4 x 10(-8) M. The amplitude and duration of the transients were similar to those induced by equimolar concentrations of bovine PTH-(1-34) (bPTH), and the dose-responses of the two peptides completely overlapped. Both full-length peptides, PTHrP-(1-141) and bPTH-(1-84), produced effects identical to those observed with the 1-34 fragments. Homologous and heterologous desensitization to both PTHrP-(1-34) and PTHrP-(1-141) occurred when the cells were prestimulated with equimolar or 10-fold lower doses of either PTHrP-(1-34) or bPTH-(1-34). Desensitization to bPTH-(1-34) was also observed when cells were prestimulated with PTHrP-(1-34). Furthermore, pretreatment with either bPTH-(3-34) or [Nle8,18, Tyr34]bPTH-(3-34) amide did not affect [Ca2+]i, but reduced the response to PTHrP-(1-34) by 55 +/- 10% (n = 3) and 67 +/- 8% (n = 3), respectively. The PTHrP-(1-34)-induced [Ca2+]i transient was not substantially affected by either extracellular Ca2+ chelation by EGTA or pretreatment with diltiazem, and nitrendipine only partially inhibited the [Ca2+]i response to PTHrP-(1-34) by about 10%. These results indicate that in osteoblastic cells PTHrP mobilizes Ca2+ from an intracellular storage pool with potency equal to that of PTH, and that the two hormones interact with the same receptor.

Glucocorticoids inhibit the proliferation, but induce the differentiation, of bone marrow stromal cells into osteoblast-like cells. The mechanisms, however, are still conjectural. Since insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) have profound effects on osteoblast growth and differentiation, it is possible that glucocorticoids exert their effects on bone marrow stromal cells in part via regulation of IGFs. Therefore, we analyzed the effects of dexamethasone (Dex) on the expression of IGF I and IGF II in cultured preosteoblastic normal human bone marrow stromal cells (HBMSC). Whereas Dex decreased the concentration of IGF I in the conditioned medium since early in the treatment, the concentration of IGF II was increased progressively as culture period lengthened. As the activities of IGF I and IGF II are regulated by the IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), we analyzed the effects of Dex on the expression of IGFBPs. Dex increased IGFBP-2 in a time-dependent manner. The increase in IGFBP-2, however, was only to the same extent as that of IGF II at most, depending on the length of treatment. Therefore, the increase in IGFBP-2 would dampen, but not eliminate, the increased IGF II activities. By contrast, Dex decreased IGFBP-3 levels, the latter increasing the bioavailability of IGF II. Although IGFBP-4 mRNA levels were stimulated by Dex, IGFBP-4 concentration in the conditioned medium was unchanged as measured by RIA. IGFBP-5 and IGFBP-6 mRNA levels were decreased by Dex in a time-dependent fashion. IGFBP-5 protein level was also decreased 1-4 days after Dex treatment. IGFBP-1 mRNA was not detectable in HBMSC. These accumulated data indicate that Dex regulates IGF I and IGF II and their binding proteins differentially in normal human bone marrow stromal cells. The progressive increase in IGF II may contribute to Dex-induced cell differentiation.