Carolyn M. Macica

Regulation of articular chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation by indian hedgehog and parathyroid hormone–related protein in mice

OBJECTIVE Chondrocytes of the epiphyseal growth zone are regulated by the Indian hedgehog (IHH)-parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) axis. In weight-bearing joints, this growth zone comes to be subdivided by the secondary ossification center into distinct articular and growth cartilage structures. The purpose of this study was to explore the cells of origin, localization, regulation of expression, and putative functions of IHH and PTHrP in articular cartilage in the mouse. METHODS We assessed IHH and PTHrP expression in an allelic PTHrP-LacZ-knockin mouse and several versions of PTHrP-null mice. Selected joints were unloaded surgically to examine load-induction of PTHrP and IHH. RESULTS The embryonic growth zone appears to serve as the source of PTHrP-expressing proliferative chondrocytes that populate both the forming articular cartilage and growth plate structures. In articular cartilage, these cells take the form of articular chondrocytes in the midzone. In PTHrP-knockout mice, mineralizing chondrocytes encroach upon developing articular cartilage but appear to be prevented from mineralizing the joint space by IHH-driven surface chondrocyte proliferation. In growing and adult mice, PTHrP expression in articular chondrocytes is load-induced, and unloading is associated with rapid changes in PTHrP expression and articular chondrocyte differentiation. CONCLUSION We conclude that the IHH-PTHrP axis participates in the maintenance of articular cartilage. Dysregulation of this system might contribute to the pathogenesis of arthritis.

Initial Characterization of PTH-Related Protein Gene-Driven lacZ Expression in the Mouse†

The PTHrP gene generates low‐abundance mRNA and protein products that are not easily localized by in situ hybridization histochemistry or immunohistochemistry. We report here a PTHrP‐lacZ knockin mouse in which β‐gal activity seems to provide a simple and sensitive read‐out of PTHrP gene expression.

IGF-1 stimulates de novo fatty acid biosynthesis by Schwann cells during myelination.

Schwann cell (SC) differentiation to the myelinating phenotype is characterized by the elaboration of a lipid‐rich membrane and the expression of myelin‐specific proteins. Insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) has been identified as a growth factor that stimulates the early events of myelination in SCs that signals via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Given the role of IGF‐1 in promoting myelination, we performed studies to determine if the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway was a target of IGF‐1 signaling in the formation of myelin membrane in dorsal root ganglion neuron/Schwann cell (DRG/SC) cocultures. We report that the fatty acid profile of lipid extracts of cocultures treated with IGF‐1 match that reported for native myelin membrane by electrospray mass spectroscopy analysis. We also demonstrate de novo fatty acid biosynthesis in response to IGF‐1 treatment in DRG/SC cocultures metabolically labeled with 13C‐acetate as a carbon source for fatty acid synthesis. Consistent with this finding, Western blot analysis of lysates from both cocultures and purified SCs reveal that IGF‐1 stimulates two key fatty acid synthesizing enzymes. Additionally, we show that stimulation of fatty acid synthesizing enzymes is mediated by the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. We also show that the fatty acid synthesizing enzymes and associated signaling pathways are elevated during the period of myelin membrane formation in sciatic nerve. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that IGF‐1 plays an important regulatory function during myelin membrane formation.

Survey of the Enthesopathy of X-Linked Hypophosphatemia and Its Characterization in Hyp Mice

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is characterized by rickets and osteomalacia as a result of an inactivating mutation of the PHEX (phosphate-regulating gene with homology to endopeptidases on the X chromosome) gene. PHEX encodes an endopeptidase that, when inactivated, results in elevated circulating levels of FGF-23, a novel phosphate-regulating hormone (a phosphatonin), thereby resulting in increased phosphate excretion and impaired bone mineralization. A generalized and severe mineralizing enthesopathy in patients with XLH was first reported in 1985; we likewise report a survey in which we found evidence of enthesopathy in fibrocartilaginous insertion sites, as well as osteophyte formation, in the majority of patients. Nonetheless, there has been very little focus on the progression and pathogenesis underlying the paradoxical heterotopic calcification of tendon and ligament insertion sites. Such studies have been hampered by lack of a model of mineralizing enthesopathy. We therefore characterized the involvement of the most frequently targeted fibrocartilaginous tendon insertion sites in Hyp mice, a murine model of the XLH mutation that phenocopies the human syndrome in every detail including hypophosphatemia and elevated FGF-23. Histological examination of the affected entheses revealed that mineralizing insertion sites, while thought to involve bone spur formation, were not due to bone-forming osteoblasts but instead to a significant expansion of mineralizing fibrocartilage. Our finding that enthesis fibrocartilage cells specifically express fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3)/Klotho suggests that the high circulating levels of FGF-23, characteristic of XLH and Hyp mice, may be part of the biochemical milieu that underlies the expansion of mineralizing enthesis fibrocartilage.

Stretch-induced PTH-related protein gene expression in osteoblasts.

Mechanical forces play a critical role in regulating skeletal mass and structure. We report that mechanical loading induces PTHrP in osteoblast‐like cells and that TREK‐2 stretch‐activated potassium channels seem to be involved in this induction. Our data suggest PTHrP as a candidate endogenous mediator of the anabolic effects of mechanical force on bone.

Genetic evidence of the regulatory role of parathyroid hormone–related protein in articular chondrocyte maintenance in an experimental mouse model

OBJECTIVE Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) regulates the rate of differentiation of growth chondrocytes and is also expressed in articular chondrocytes. This study tested the hypothesis that PTHrP might have a regulatory role in articular chondrocyte maintenance. METHODS Control sequences of growth differentiation factor 5 were used to delete PTHrP from articular chondrocytes in the mid-region of mouse articular cartilage. Mice with conditional deletion of PTHrP (knockout [KO]) and littermate control mice were evaluated for degenerative changes using both a time-course design and destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) technique. A total histologic score of degenerative changes was determined for the femoral and tibial articular surfaces (total maximum score of 60). RESULTS The time-course study revealed degenerative changes in only a minority of the KO mice. In the DMM model, male KO mice were highly susceptible to DMM-induced degenerative changes (mean ± SEM total histologic score 45 ± 2.7 in KO mice versus 23 ± 1.4 in controls; P < 0.0001 by Mann-Whitney U test), with virtually no overlap between groups. PTHrP normally functions in a feedback loop with Indian hedgehog (IHH), in which a reduction in one signaling partner induces a compensatory increase in the other. A number of phenotypic and functional markers were documented in KO mice to suggest that the IHH-PTHrP axis is capable of compensating in response to a partial Cre-driven PTHrP deletion, a finding that underscores the need to subject the mouse articular cartilage to a destabilizing challenge in order to elicit frankly degenerative findings. CONCLUSION PTHrP may regulate articular chondrocyte maintenance in mice.

The PTHrP Functional Domain Is at the Gates of Endochondral Bones

Abstract:  PTHrP gene‐expression products are generally of very low abundance. The PTHrP‐lacZ knockin mouse is a useful tool in this regard, identifying PTHrP expression in previously unrecognized sites and serving to score this expression in gene‐regulation experiments. These sites include the periosteum and ligament/tendon insertion sites at the surface of endochondral bones, in which PTHrP appears to regulate subjacent bone cell populations. As mesenchymal condensations chondrify, PTHrP/lacZ is also expressed in epiphyseal cartilage (the chondroepiphysis), and this structure contributes PTHrP‐expressing chondrocyte populations to both articular cartilage and growth‐plate cartilage when these structures take shape postnatally. The Indian hedgehog‐PTHrP axis is fully deployed in both of these locations and in articular cartilage appears to protect the joint space from invasion by mineralizing cells. In most of these sites PTHrP is mechanically regulated.

Induction of parathyroid hormone-related peptide following peripheral nerve injury: Role as a modulator of Schwann cell phenotype

Parathyroid hormone‐related peptide (PTHrP) is widely distributed in the rat nervous system, including the peripheral nervous system, where its function is unknown. PTHrP mRNA expression has recently been shown to be significantly elevated following axotomy of sympathetic ganglia, although the role of PTHrP was not investigated. The role of PTHrP in peripheral nerve injury was investigated in this study using the sciatic nerve injury model and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) explant model of nerve regeneration. We find that PTHrP is a constitutively secreted peptide of proliferating Schwann cells and that the PTHrP receptor (PTH1R) mRNA is expressed in isolated DRG and in sciatic nerve. Using the sciatic nerve injury model, we show that PTHrP is significantly upregulated in DRG and in sciatic nerve. In addition, in situ hybridization revealed significant localization of PTHrP mRNA to Schwann cells in the injured sciatic nerve. We also find that PTHrP causes a dramatic increase in the number of Schwann cells that align with and bundle regrowing axons in explants, characteristic of immature, dedifferentiated Schwann cells. In addition to stimulating migration of Schwann cells along the axonal membrane, PTHrP also stimulates migration on a type 1 collagen matrix. Furthermore, treatment of purified Schwann cell cultures with PTHrP results in the rapid phosphorylation of the cAMP response element protein, CREB. We propose that PTHrP acts by promoting the dedifferentiation of Schwann cells, a critical requirement for successful nerve regeneration and an effect consistent with known PTHrP functions in other cellular differentiation programs.

Role of the NH2 terminus of the cloned renal K+ channel, ROMK1, in arachidonic acid-mediated inhibition

We have previously demonstrated that the ROMK channel maintains the property of arachidonic acid (AA) sensitivity observed originally in the native ATP-sensitive K+channel of the rat cortical collecting duct (16). We used the patch-clamp technique to extend these studies to other NH2-terminal splice variants of the ROMK channel family, ROMK2 and ROMK3, expressed in Xenopus oocytes to determine the mechanism by which AA inhibits channel activity. Although the conductance, channel open probability, and open/closed times of the three homologs were determined to be similar, addition of 5-10 μM AA caused only a moderate inhibition of ROMK2 (15 ± 8%) and ROMK3 (13 ± 9%) activity, indicating that differences in the NH2 termini of ROMK channels strongly influence the AA action. We consequently examined the effect of AA on a ROMK1 variant, R1ND37, in which the NH2 terminal amino acids 2-37 were deleted, and on a mutant ROMK1, R1S4A, in which the serine-4 residue was mutated to alanine. Like ROMK2 and ROMK3, AA had a diminished effect on these variants. Addition of 1 nM exogenous protein kinase C (PKC) inhibited ROMK1 but not the mutant, R1S4A. However, the effect of AA is not a result of stimulation of a membrane bound PKC, since PKC inhibitors, calphostin C and chelerythrine, failed to abolish the AA-induced inhibition. In contrast, application of 5 μM staurosporine, a nonspecific protein kinase inhibitor at high concentration, abolished the effect of AA. We conclude that phosphorylation of serine-4 residue in the NH2 terminus plays a key role in determination of AA effect on ROMK channels.

Mineralizing Enthesopathy Is a Common Feature of Renal Phosphate-Wasting Disorders Attributed to FGF23 and Is Exacerbated by Standard Therapy in Hyp Mice

We have previously confirmed a paradoxical mineralizing enthesopathy as a hallmark of X-linked hypophosphatemia. X-linked hypophosphatemia is the most common of the phosphate-wasting disorders mediated by elevated fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and occurs as a consequence of inactivating mutations of the PHEX gene product. Despite childhood management of the disease, these complications of tendon and ligament insertion sites account for a great deal of the diseases morbidity into adulthood. It is unclear whether the enthesopathy occurs in other forms of renal phosphate-wasting disorders attributable to high FGF23 levels. Here we describe two patients with autosomal recessive hypophosphatemic rickets due to the Met1Val mutation in dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein 1 (DMP1). In addition to the biochemical and skeletal features of long-standing rickets with elevated FGF23 levels, these individuals exhibited severe, debilitating, generalized mineralized enthesopathy. These data suggest that enthesophytes are a feature common to FGF23-mediated phosphate-wasting disorders. To address this possibility, we examined a murine model of FGF23 overexpression using a transgene encoding the secreted form of human FGF23 (R176Q) cDNA (FGF23-TG mice). We report that FGF23-TG mice display a similar mineralizing enthesopathy of the Achilles and plantar facial insertions. In addition, we examined the impact of standard therapy for phosphate-wasting disorders on enthesophyte progression. We report that fibrochondrocyte hyperplasia persisted in Hyp mice treated with oral phosphate and calcitriol. In addition, treatment had the untoward effect of further exacerbating the mineralization of fibrochondrocytes that define the bone spur of the Achilles insertion. These studies support the need for newer interventions targeted at limiting the actions of FGF23 and minimizing both the toxicities and potential morbidities associated with standard therapy.