Osteocalcin detected from serum samples is considered a specific marker of osteoblast activity and bone formation rate. However, osteocalcin embedded in bone matrix must also be released during bone resorption. To understand the contribution of each type of bone cell in circulating osteocalcin levels, we used immunoassays detecting different molecular forms of osteocalcin to monitor bone resorption in vitro. Osteoclasts were obtained from rat long bones and cultured on bovine bone slices using osteocalcin-depleted fetal bovine serum. In addition, human osteoclasts differentiated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used. Both rat and human osteoclasts released osteocalcin from bovine bone into medium. The amount of osteocalcin increased in the presence of parathyroid hormone, a stimulator of resorption, and decreased in the presence of bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of resorption. The amount of osteocalcin in the medium correlated with a well characterized marker of bone resorption, the C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (r > 0.9, p < 0.0001). The heterogeneity of released osteocalcin was determined using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography, and several molecular forms of osteocalcin, including intact molecule, were identified in the culture medium. In conclusion, osteocalcin is released from the bone matrix during bone resorption as intact molecules and fragments. In addition to the conventional use as a marker of bone formation, osteocalcin can be used as a marker of bone resorption in vitro. Furthermore, bone matrix-derived osteocalcin may contribute to circulating osteocalcin levels, suggesting that serum osteocalcin should be considered as a marker of bone turnover rather than bone formation. Osteocalcin (OC)1 is a 6-kDa noncollagenous protein produced by osteoblasts (1), osteocytes (2), and odontoblasts (3).Osteocalcin messenger RNA has also been detected in tissues other than bone, but it appears to be processed properly only in the bone microenvironment (4, 5). The structure of osteocalcin is characterized by three glutamic acid residues, which undergo a vitamin K-dependent carboxylation. The ␥-carboxyglutamic acid residues (Gla) provide osteocalcin with the ability to bind bone hydroxyapatite with a high affinity (6, 7). Osteocalcin is the second most abundant protein in the bone matrix, and it is highly conserved among all vertebrate species (8). The biological function of osteocalcin is probably related to the regulation of bone turnover and/or mineralization (9, 10).The expression of osteocalcin is a marker of late osteoblast differentiation and is induced only after the expression of other osteoblastic markers such as alkaline phosphatase and type I collagen (11,12). Newly synthesized osteocalcin is mostly (60 -90%) adsorbed to the bone hydroxyapatite via the Gla residues, but a part of it leaks into the circulation where it can be detected (13,14). Although osteoblasts synthesize only intact osteocalcin (15), osteocalcin may further undergo intracellular processing or ...
It has been widely believed that the cytokines required for osteoclast formation are M-CSF (also known as CSF-1) and RANKL. Recently, a novel cytokine, designated IL-34, has been identified as another ligand of CSF1R. This study was to explore the biological function, specifically osteoclastogenesis and bone metabolism, of the new cytokine. We produced recombinant mouse IL-34 and found that together with RANKL it induces the formation of osteoclasts both from splenocytes as well as dose-dependently from bone marrow cells in mouse and these cells also revealed bone resorption activity. It also promotes osteoclast differentiation from human peripheral blood mononucleated cells. Finally, we show that systemic administration of IL-34 to mice increases the proportion of CD11b+ cells and reduces trabecular bone mass. Our data indicate that IL-34 is another important player in osteoclastogenesis and thus may have a role in bone diseases. Strategies of targeting CSF1/CSF1R have been developed and some of them are already in preclinical and clinical studies for treatment of inflammatory diseases. Our results strongly suggest the need to revisit these strategies as they may provide a new potential pharmaceutical target for the regulation of bone metabolism in addition to their role in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
In osteoclasts, TRACP co-localized with cathepsin K in transcytotic vesicles and was activated by cathepsin K in vitro, suggesting that TRACP may degrade organic matrix components in transcytotic vesicles in an event regulated by cathepsin K.Introduction: TRACP is an enzyme with unknown biological function. In addition to its phosphatase activity, TRACP is capable of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). Bone-resorbing osteoclasts contain large amounts of TRACP, and transgenic animal models suggest that TRACP has a role in bone resorption. Osteoclasts resorb bone by secreting acid and lysosomal enzymes such as cathepsin K into an extracellular resorption lacuna between the cell membrane and bone surface. Matrix degradation products are then endocytosed, transcytosed, and secreted through a functional secretory domain in the basolateral membrane facing bone marrow. Materials and Methods:We have studied intracellular localization of TRACP in osteoclasts with antibodies against various known endosomal and lysosomal proteins using confocal microscopy. We also studied co-localization of TRACP with cathepsin K and endocytosed bone matrix components and the effect of cathepsin K digestion on the ROS generating activity of TRACP in vitro. Results: Double-staining experiments of TRACP with endosomal and lysosomal markers showed that, although some endosomal staining was detected, TRACP was not present in lysosomes. However, TRACP was present in transcytotic vesicles, where it co-localized with cathepsin K. Cathepsin K digestion of TRACP in vitro increased the phosphatase activity by 5.6-fold and the ROS generating activity by 2.0-fold. Conclusions: These results suggest that cathepsin K may activate the ROS-generating activity of TRACP in transcytotic vesicles of resorbing osteoclasts, the ROS being targeted to finalize degradation of organic bone matrix components during their transcytosis.
Rab7 has been shown to regulate the late steps of the endocytic pathway. In bone-resorbing osteoclasts, it is involved in formation of the ruffled border, which is a late endosomal-like compartment in the plasma membrane. Here we report a new Rab7-interacting protein, Rac1, another small GTPase protein that binds to the GTPform of Rab7 as found with a two-hybrid system. We demonstrate further that Rab7 colocalizes with Rac1 at the fusion zone of the ruffled border in bone-resorbing osteoclasts. In other cell types, such as fibroblast-like cells, partial colocalization is perinuclear. Because Rac1 is known to control the actin cytoskeleton through its effectors, the Rab7-Rac1 interaction may mediate late endosomal transport between microtubules and microfilaments enabling endosomal vesicles to switch tracks and may thus also regulate ruffled border formation in osteoclasts.Skeletal modeling during growth and bone remodeling in the adult skeleton are dependent on bone resorption. Osteoclasts are the cells that are responsible for the degradation of the organic and inorganic bone matrix. These multinucleated cells mature from a monocyte/ macrophage lineage of precursor cells and are mainly located in the vicinity of the bone surface in bone marrow (1). When bone resorption is induced, osteoclasts migrate to the site of the resorption, become highly polarized (2), and form four distinct membrane domains: the ruffled border, sealing zone, functional secretory domain, and basolateral domain (2-4). During the process of osteoclast activation, the cells attach to the bone matrix through a ring-like structure called a sealing zone. The membrane-facing bone matrix inside the sealing zone is the ruffled border formed via rapid fusion of intracellular acidic vesicles to the plasma membrane (5, 6). This results in acidification and release of proteinases into the space between the bone matrix and the ruffled border known as the resorption lacuna. As a result, bone matrix is digested (7). The mineral is dissolved by acid and collagen matrix degraded by proteinases, the degradation products are internalized locally, and transcytosed to the functional secretary domain at the top of the polarized osteoclasts for secretion (8, 9). Thus, the ruffled border, which is assembled by fusion with endosomal membranes, shows not only characteristics of the plasma membrane but also those of the late endosomal/lysosomal membranes (5). Indeed, many proteins present at the ruffled border are also found in endosomal and/or lysosomal membranes, including Rab7, vacuolar H ϩ -ATPase, cathepsin K, and others.We have previously shown that the ruffled border is divided functionally into two subdomains, the fusion zone for secretion and the uptake zone for endocytosis of degraded products (10).Recent studies have shown that Ras-related small GTPases of the Rab family control the endocytic, secretory, and recycling traffic of intracellular vesicles in mammalian cells (11)(12)(13)(14). Approximately 60 Rab proteins have been identified in the human gen...
There is ample evidence now that the two major events in bone resorption, namely dissolution of hydroxyapatite and degradation of the organic matrix, are performed by osteoclasts. The resorption cycle involves several specific cellular activities, where intracellular vesicular trafficking plays a crucial role. Although details of these processes started to open up only recently, it is clear that vesicular trafficking is needed in several specific steps of osteoclast functioning. Several plasma membrane domains are formed during the polarization of the resorbing cells. Multinucleated osteoclasts create a tight sealing to the extracellular matrix as a first indicator of their resorption activity. Initial steps of the sealing zone formation are alpha(v)beta(3)-integrin mediated, but the final molecular interaction(s) between the plasma membrane and mineralized bone matrix is still unknown. A large number of acidic intracellular vesicles then fuse with the bone-facing plasma membrane to form a ruffled border membrane, which is the actual resorbing organelle. The formation of a ruffled border is regulated by a small GTP-binding protein, rab7, which indicates the late endosomal character of the ruffled border membrane. Details of specific membrane transport processes in the osteoclasts, e.g., the formation of the sealing zone and transcytosis of bone degradation products from the resorption lacuna to the functional secretory domain remain to be clarified. It is tempting to speculate that specific features of vesicular trafficking may offer several potential new targets for drug therapy of bone diseases.
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