Bone remodeling is characterized by the sequential, local tethering of osteoclasts and osteoblasts and is key to the maintenance of bone integrity. While bone matrix-mobilized growth factors, such as TGF-β, are proposed to regulate remodeling, no in vivo evidence exists that an osteoclast-produced molecule serves as a coupling factor for bone resorption to formation. We found that CTHRC1, a protein secreted by mature boneresorbing osteoclasts, targets stromal cells to stimulate osteogenesis. Cthrc1 expression was robustly induced when mature osteoclasts were placed on dentin or hydroxyapatite, and also by increasing extracellular calcium. Cthrc1 expression in bone increased in a high-turnover state (such as that induced by RANKL injections in vivo), but decreased in conditions associated with suppressed bone turnover (such as with aging and after alendronate treatment). Targeted deletion of Cthrc1 in mice eliminated Cthrc1 expression in bone, whereas its deficiency in osteoblasts did not exert any significant effect. Osteoclast-specific deletion of Cthrc1 resulted in osteopenia due to reduced bone formation and impaired the coupling process after resorption induced by RANKL injections, impairing bone mass recovery. These data demonstrate that CTHRC1 is an osteoclastsecreted coupling factor that regulates bone remodeling.
IntroductionBone is constantly remodeled through the removal of old bone (resorption) and the replacement of new bone (formation) by hematopoietic-derived osteoclasts and mesenchymal-derived osteoblasts, respectively, to meet structural and metabolic demands (1, 2). It has long been believed that a preceding resorption phase is a prerequisite for the initiation of subsequent bone formation (3), which is also supported by recent clinical observations that treatment of osteoporotic patients with the potent antiresorptive drug alendronate blunts the anabolic action of parathyroid hormone (PTH) (4). Although the coupling of bone formation to resorption has been long recognized, the mechanism and the factors mediating this fundamental process in skeletal homeostasis are not fully understood (5).Recently, it was suggested that active TGF-β1 released from bone matrix during bone resorption is coupled to bone formation by inducing migration of marrow stromal cells to resorption sites (6). Bidirectional signaling between EPHRINB2 on osteoclasts and the receptor EPHB4 on osteoblasts has also been proposed to link bone resorption and formation through direct cell-cell contact (7). In addition, mature osteoclasts produce and secrete factors, such as WNT10B, BMP6, and the lipid mediator sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), that have been shown to stimulate osteoblast recruitment and survival (8-10). However, the in vivo function of these factors in the coupling process remains to be elucidated.We reasoned that a factor mediating the coupling reaction linking bone resorption to formation would have to meet the following criteria: (a) it should be produced and secreted/presented by osteoclasts; (b) it should exert a...