No abstract

Enchondromas are common benign cartilage tumors of bone. They can occur as solitary lesions or as multiple lesions in enchondromatosis (Ollier and Maffucci diseases). Clinical problems caused by enchondromas include skeletal deformity and the potential for malignant change to chondrosarcoma. The extent of skeletal involvement is variable in enchondromatosis and may include dysplasia that is not directly attributable to enchondromas. Enchondromatosis is rare, obvious inheritance of the condition is unusual and no candidate loci have been identified. Enchondromas are usually in close proximity to, or in continuity with, growth-plate cartilage. Consequently, they may result from abnormal regulation of proliferation and terminal differentiation of chondrocytes in the adjoining growth plate. In normal growth plates, differentiation of proliferative chondrocytes to post-mitotic hypertrophic chondrocytes is regulated in part by a tightly coupled signaling relay involving parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHrP) and Indian hedgehog (IHH). PTHrP delays the hypertrophic differentiation of proliferating chondrocytes, whereas IHH promotes chondrocyte proliferation. We identified a mutant PTH/PTHrP type I receptor (PTHR1) in human enchondromatosis that signals abnormally in vitro and causes enchondroma-like lesions in transgenic mice. The mutant receptor constitutively activates Hedgehog signaling, and excessive Hedgehog signaling is sufficient to cause formation of enchondroma-like lesions.

A unique heterozygous 3-kb microdeletion within STX16, a closely linked gene centromeric of GNAS, was previously identified in multiple unrelated kindreds as a cause of autosomal dominant pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ib (AD-PHP-Ib). We now report a novel heterozygous 4.4-kb microdeletion in a large kindred with AD-PHP-Ib. Affected individuals from this kindred share an epigenetic defect that is indistinguishable from that observed in patients with AD-PHP-Ib who carry the 3-kb microdeletion in the STX16 region (i.e., an isolated loss of methylation at GNAS exon A/B). The novel 4.4-kb microdeletion overlaps with the previously identified deletion by 1,286 bp and, similar to the latter deletion, removes several exons of STX16 (encoding syntaxin-16). Because these microdeletions lead to AD-PHP-Ib only after maternal transmission, we analyzed expression of this gene in lymphoblastoid cells of affected individuals with the 3-kb or the 4.4-kb microdeletion, an individual with a NESP55 deletion, and a healthy control. We found that STX16 mRNA was expressed in all cases from both parental alleles. Thus, STX16 is apparently not imprinted, and a loss-of-function mutation in one allele is therefore unlikely to be responsible for this disorder. Instead, the region of overlap between the two microdeletions likely harbors a cis-acting imprinting control element that is necessary for establishing and/or maintaining methylation at GNAS exon A/B, thus allowing normal G alpha(s) expression in the proximal renal tubules. In the presence of either of the two microdeletions, parathyroid hormone resistance appears to develop over time, as documented in an affected individual who was diagnosed at birth with the 4.4-kb deletion of STX16 and who had normal serum parathyroid hormone levels until the age of 21 mo.

Infantile cortical hyperostosis (Caffey disease) is characterized by spontaneous episodes of subperiosteal new bone formation along 1 or more bones commencing within the first 5 months of life. A genome-wide screen for genetic linkage in a large family with an autosomal dominant form of Caffey disease (ADC) revealed a locus on chromosome 17q21 (LOD score, 6.78). Affected individuals and obligate carriers were heterozygous for a missense mutation (3040C→T) in exon 41 of the gene encoding the α1(I) chain of type I collagen (COL1A1), altering residue 836 (R836C) in the triple-helical domain of this chain. The same mutation was identified in affected members of 2 unrelated, smaller families with ADC, but not in 2 prenatal cases and not in more than 300 chromosomes from healthy individuals. Fibroblast cultures from an affected individual produced abnormal disulfide-bonded dimeric α1(I) chains. Dermal collagen fibrils of the same individual were larger, more variable in shape and size, and less densely packed than those in control samples. Individuals bearing the mutation, whether they had experienced an episode of cortical hyperostosis or not, had joint hyperlaxity, hyperextensible skin, and inguinal hernias resembling symptoms of a mild form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type III. These findings extend the spectrum of COL1A1-related diseases to include a hyperostotic disorder.

Infantile cortical hyperostosis (Caffey disease) is characterized by spontaneous episodes of subperiosteal new bone formation along 1 or more bones commencing within the first 5 months of life. A genome-wide screen for genetic linkage in a large family with an autosomal dominant form of Caffey disease (ADC) revealed a locus on chromosome 17q21 (LOD score, 6.78). Affected individuals and obligate carriers were heterozygous for a missense mutation (3040C→T) in exon 41 of the gene encoding the α1(I) chain of type I collagen (COL1A1), altering residue 836 (R836C) in the triple-helical domain of this chain. The same mutation was identified in affected members of 2 unrelated, smaller families with ADC, but not in 2 prenatal cases and not in more than 300 chromosomes from healthy individuals. Fibroblast cultures from an affected individual produced abnormal disulfide-bonded dimeric α1(I) chains. Dermal collagen fibrils of the same individual were larger, more variable in shape and size, and less densely packed than those in control samples. Individuals bearing the mutation, whether they had experienced an episode of cortical hyperostosis or not, had joint hyperlaxity, hyperextensible skin, and inguinal hernias resembling symptoms of a mild form of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type III. These findings extend the spectrum of COL1A1-related diseases to include a hyperostotic disorder.

The carboxyl-terminal portions of parathyroid hormone (PTH)-(1-34) and PTH-related peptide (PTHrP)-(1-36) are critical for high affinity binding to the PTH/ PTHrP receptor (P1R), but the mechanism of receptor interaction for this domain is largely unknown. To identify interaction sites between the carboxyl-terminal region of PTHrP-(1-36) and the P1R, we prepared analogs of [ -172. These data thus predict that residues 23, 27, 28, and 33 of native PTHrP are each near to different regions of the amino-terminal extracellular receptor domain of the P1R. This information helps define sites of proximity between several ligand residues and this large receptor domain, which so far has been largely excluded from models of the hormone-receptor complex. PTH and PTHrP1 mediate many of their biological effects through the same receptor (1, 2). Peptides containing the first 34 amino acids of PTH and PTHrP are capable of fully activating the PTH/PTHrP receptor (P1R) (1, 2). Studies with PTH and PTHrP ligand analogs and receptor chimeras have suggested that the ligands have two distinct functional domains: the amino-terminal residues, which are important for receptor activation; and the carboxyl-terminal residues, which are important for high affinity binding (3). These data furthermore indicate that the ligand's amino-terminal portion interacts with the extracellular loops and the membrane-spanning helices of the receptor, and the ligand's carboxyl-terminal portion interacts with the receptor's amino-terminal extracellular domain (3). A similar pattern of ligand-receptor interaction has been suggested for other members of this class II family of peptide hormone G-protein-coupled receptors, including the secretin receptor (4) and the PTH-2 receptor (5-7).Some specific sites of interaction between the amino-terminal portions of PTH-(1-34)/PTHrP-(1-36) and the P1R have been identified by site-directed mutagenesis and photoaffinity cross-linking studies. For example, mutational analyses have shown that residues in extracellular loop 3 and the adjacent sixth membrane-spanning helix (TM6) are critical for mediating ligand-induced receptor activation (2,8). Consistent with these mutational data, Bpa introduced at position 1 of PTH-(1-34) or position 2 of either PTH-(1-34) or PTHrP-(1-36) was found to cross-link to methionine 425, at the extracellular end of TM6 in the P1R (9, 10). Interactions between the aminoterminal portion of the ligand and the transmembrane domains/extracellular loops of the receptor are also suggested by a study showing that PTH-(1-14) can stimulate cAMP accumulation in a mutant P1R missing most of the amino-terminal extracellular domain as efficiently as it does in the wild-type P1R (11). Furthermore, if a PTH fragment comprising the first 9 amino acids is covalently attached to the amino-terminal end of such a truncated receptor, the resulting ligand-receptor chimera displays constitutive activity, indicative of an intramolecular stimulation of the receptor's activation domain by the tethered ligand fragment ...

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have receptors homologous to the human PTH (hPTH)/PTHrP receptor (PTH1R) and PTH-2 receptor (PTH2R) and an additional receptor (PTH3R) with high homology to the PTH1R. To find natural ligands for zPTH1R and zPTH3R, we searched the zebrafish genomic database and discovered two distinct regions that, when translated (zPTH1 and zPTH2), showed high homology to hPTH. Isolation of cDNAs and determination of the intron/exon boundaries revealed genomic structures which were similar to known PTHs. Peptides consisting of the first 34 amino acids after the pre- and prosequences of the zebrafish PTHs (zPTHs) were synthesized and were shown to be fully active at the hPTH1R. zPTH2(1-34) was, however, approximately 30-fold less potent at the zPTH1R than hPTH(1-34), hPTHrP(1-36), and zPTH1(1-34). When tested with zPTH3R, zPTH1(1-34) and hPTHrP(1-36) showed similar potencies, whereas the potency of zPTH2(1-34) was moderately (3-fold) reduced. To determine whether other fishes have multiple PTHs, we searched the genomic database of the Japanese pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes) and identified zPTH1 and zPTH2 homologs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PTHs from zebrafish and pufferfish are more closely related to each other than to known mammalian PTH homologs or to PTHrP and tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues. This is consistent with evolution of two teleost PTH-like peptides occurring after the evolutionary divergence between fishes and mammals. Overall, the PTH system appears more complex in fishes than in mammals, providing evidence of continued evolution in nontetrapod species. The availability of multiple forms of fish PTH and their receptors provide additional tools for PTH ligand/receptor structure-function studies.

Videomicroscopic and micropuncture techniques were utilized to determine segmental microvascular responses of in vitro blood-perfused juxtamedullary nephrons to step changes in renal arterial perfusion pressure (PP). At a PP of 104 +/- 2 mmHg, inside diameters of arcuate arteries (ARC), interlobular arteries (ILA), and afferent arterioles (AFF) averaged 68.6 +/- 6.4, 35.7 +/- 1.5, and 20.4 +/- 2.3 microns, respectively. Variations in PP within the range of 70-180 mmHg elicited alterations in microvessel diameters with the following slopes: ARC, -0.15 micron/mmHg; ILA, -0.13 micron/mmHg; and AFF, -0.14 micron/mmHg. In other experiments, intravascular pressures were measured during changes in PP. Glomerular capillary pressure was well regulated (slope = 0.19 +/- 0.03 mmHg/mmHg), and mid-AFF pressure was partially regulated (slope = 0.60 +/- 0.17 mmHg/mmHg); however, pressure measured at the ILA-AFF branch point responded passively to changes in PP (slope = 0.95 +/- 0.06 mmHg/mmHg). These observations reveal that, although the entire preglomerular vasculature of juxtamedullary nephrons is capable of actively responding to changes in PP, afferent arterioles are responsible for the predominant resistance adjustment throughout the normal autoregulatory range.