Early sclerostin expression explains bone formation inhibition before arthritis onset in the rat adjuvant-induced arthritis model.
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ABSTRACT: Periarticular bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered to be mainly related to synovial inflammation. However, strong bone loss has also described at the time of arthritis onset. Recently, a paradoxical exacerbation of joint damage was described when blocking sclerostin in various arthritis models. Thus, we aimed to determine kinetics of bone loss and its mechanisms in the adjuvant induced arthritis (AIA) rat model of RA. AIA was induced (n = 35) or not (n = 35) at day 0. In addition to well-known arthritis at day 12, we showed with 3D-imaging and histomorphometry that bone microstructural alterations occurred early from day 8 post-induction, characterized by cortical porosity and trabecular bone loss. Active osteoclastic surfaces were increased from day 8 with RANKL upregulation. More surprisingly SOST and DKK1 were overexpressed from day 6 and followed by a dramatic decrease in bone formation from day 8. At the time of arthritis onset, SOST and DKK1 returned to control values, but frizzled related protein 1 (SFRP1), proinflammatory cytokines, and MMPs started to increase. Bone alterations before arthritis onset reinforce the hypothesis of an early bone involvement in arthritis. Kinetics of osteocyte markers expression should be considered to refine Wnt inhibitor treatment strategies.
Project description:Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in rapid and extensive sublesional bone loss. Sclerostin, an osteocyte-derived glycoprotein that negatively regulates intraskeletal Wnt signaling, is elevated after SCI and may represent a mechanism underlying this excessive bone loss. However, it remains unknown whether pharmacologic sclerostin inhibition ameliorates bone loss subsequent to SCI. Our primary purposes were to determine whether a sclerostin antibody (Scl-Ab) prevents hindlimb cancellous bone loss in a rodent SCI model and to compare the effects of a Scl-Ab to that of testosterone-enanthate (TE), an agent that we have previously shown prevents SCI-induced bone loss. Fifty-five (n = 11-19/group) skeletally mature male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to receive: (A) SHAM surgery (T8 laminectomy), (B) moderate-severe (250 kilodyne) SCI, (C) 250 kilodyne SCI + TE (7.0 mg/wk, im), or (D) 250 kilodyne SCI + Scl-Ab (25 mg/kg, twice weekly, sc) for 3 weeks. Twenty-one days post-injury, SCI animals exhibited reduced hindlimb cancellous bone volume at the proximal tibia (via μCT and histomorphometry) and distal femur (via μCT), characterized by reduced trabecular number and thickness. SCI also reduced trabecular connectivity and platelike trabecular structures, indicating diminished structural integrity of the remaining cancellous network, and produced deficits in cortical bone (femoral diaphysis) strength. Scl-Ab and TE both prevented SCI-induced cancellous bone loss, albeit via differing mechanisms. Specifically, Scl-Ab increased osteoblast surface and bone formation, indicating direct bone anabolic effects, whereas TE reduced osteoclast surface with minimal effect on bone formation, indicating antiresorptive effects. The deleterious microarchitectural alterations in the trabecular network were also prevented in SCI + Scl-Ab and SCI + TE animals, whereas only Scl-Ab completely prevented the reduction in cortical bone strength. Our findings provide the first evidence indicating that sclerostin inhibition represents a viable treatment to prevent SCI-induced cancellous and cortical bone deficits and provides preliminary rationale for future clinical trials focused on evaluating whether Scl-Ab prevents osteoporosis in the SCI population.
Project description:Sclerostin, encoded by the Sost gene, is an important negative regulator of bone formation that has been proposed to have a key role in regulating the response to mechanical loading. To investigate the effect of long-term Sclerostin deficiency on mechanotransduction in bone, we performed experiments on unloaded or loaded tibiae of 10 week old female Sost-/- and wild type mice. Unloading was induced via 0.5U botulinum toxin (BTX) injections into the right quadriceps and calf muscles, causing muscle paralysis and limb disuse. On a separate group of mice, increased loading was performed on the left tibiae through unilateral cyclic axial compression of equivalent strains (+1200?µe) at 1200 cycles/day, 5 days/week. Another cohort of mice receiving equivalent loads (-9.0?N) also were assessed. Contralateral tibiae served as normal load controls. Loaded/unloaded and normal load tibiae were assessed at day 14 for bone volume (BV) and formation changes. Loss of BV was seen in the unloaded tibiae of wild type mice, but BV was not different between normal load and unloaded Sost-/- tibiae. An increase in BV was seen in the loaded tibiae of wild type and Sost-/- mice over their normal load controls. The increased BV was associated with significantly increased mid-shaft periosteal mineralizing surface/bone surface (MS/BS), mineral apposition rate (MAR), and bone formation rate/bone surface (BFR/BS), and endosteal MAR and BFR/BS. Notably, loading induced a greater increase in periosteal MAR and BFR/BS in Sost-/- mice than in wild type controls. Thus, long-term Sclerostin deficiency inhibits the bone loss normally induced with decreased mechanical load, but it can augment the increase in bone formation with increased load.
Project description:There is an unmet medical need for anabolic treatments to restore lost bone. Human genetic bone disorders provide insight into bone regulatory processes. Sclerosteosis is a disease typified by high bone mass due to the loss of SOST expression. Sclerostin, the SOST gene protein product, competed with the type I and type II bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptors for binding to BMPs, decreased BMP signaling and suppressed mineralization of osteoblastic cells. SOST expression was detected in cultured osteoblasts and in mineralizing areas of the skeleton, but not in osteoclasts. Strong expression in osteocytes suggested that sclerostin expressed by these central regulatory cells mediates bone homeostasis. Transgenic mice overexpressing SOST exhibited low bone mass and decreased bone strength as the result of a significant reduction in osteoblast activity and subsequently, bone formation. Modulation of this osteocyte-derived negative signal is therapeutically relevant for disorders associated with bone loss.
Project description:Breast cancer bone metastases often cause a debilitating non-curable condition with osteolytic lesions, muscle weakness and a high mortality. Current treatment comprises chemotherapy, irradiation, surgery and anti-resorptive drugs that restrict but do not revert bone destruction. In metastatic breast cancer cells, we determined the expression of sclerostin, a soluble Wnt inhibitor that represses osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. In mice with breast cancer bone metastases, pharmacological inhibition of sclerostin using an anti-sclerostin antibody (Scl-Ab) reduced metastases without tumor cell dissemination to other distant sites. Sclerostin inhibition prevented the cancer-induced bone destruction by augmenting osteoblast-mediated bone formation and reducing osteoclast-dependent bone resorption. During advanced disease, NF-κB and p38 signaling was increased in muscles in a TGF-β1-dependent manner, causing muscle fiber atrophy, muscle weakness and tissue regeneration with an increase in Pax7-positive satellite cells. Scl-Ab treatment restored NF-κB and p38 signaling, the abundance of Pax7-positive cells and ultimately muscle function. These effects improved the overall health condition and expanded the life span of cancer-bearing mice. Together, these results demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of sclerostin reduces bone metastatic burden and muscle weakness with a prolongation of the survival time. This might provide novel options for treating musculoskeletal complications in breast cancer patients. .
Project description:ObjectiveCC chemokines and their receptors play a fundamental role in trafficking and activation of leukocytes at sites of inflammation, contributing to joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis. Met-RANTES, an amino-terminal-modified methionylated form of RANTES (CCL5), antagonizes the binding of the chemokines RANTES and macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha (MIP-1alpha; CCL3) to their receptors CCR1 and CCR5, respectively. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Met-RANTES could ameliorate adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) in the rat.MethodsUsing immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis, adoptive transfer, and chemotaxis, we defined joint inflammation, bony destruction, neutrophil and macrophage migration, Met-RANTES binding affinity to rat receptors, proinflammatory cytokine and bone marker levels, CCR1 and CCR5 expression and activation, and macrophage homing into joints with AIA.ResultsAdministration of Met-RANTES as a preventative reduced the severity of joint inflammation. Administration of Met-RANTES to ankles with AIA showed decreases in inflammation, radiographic soft tissue swelling, and bone erosion. Met-RANTES significantly reduced the number of neutrophils and macrophages at the peak of arthritis compared with saline-injected controls. Competitive chemotaxis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrated that Met-RANTES inhibited MIP-1alpha and MIP-1beta at 50% inhibition concentrations of 5 nM and 2 nM, respectively. Furthermore, levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1beta, macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and RANKL were decreased in joints with AIA in the Met-RANTES group compared with the control group. Interestingly, the expression and activation of CCR1 and CCR5 in the joint were down-regulated in the Met-RANTES group compared with the control group. Functionally, Met-RANTES administration decreased adoptively transferred peritoneal macrophage homing into the joint.ConclusionThe data suggest that the targeting of Th1-associated chemokine receptors reduce joint inflammation, bone destruction, and cell recruitment into joints with AIA.
Project description:We show that prostacyclin production is increased in bone and osteocytes from sclerostin (Sost) knockout mice which have greatly increased bone mass. The addition of prostacyclin or a prostacyclin analog to bone forming osteoblasts enhances differentiation and matrix mineralization of osteoblasts. The increase in prostacyclin synthesis is linked to increases in ?-catenin concentrations and activity as shown by enhanced binding of lymphoid enhancer factor, Lef1, to promoter elements within the prostacyclin synthase promoter. Blockade of Wnt signaling reduces prostacyclin production in osteocytes. Increased prostacyclin production by osteocytes from sclerostin deficient mice could potentially contribute to the increased bone formation seen in this condition.
Project description:The downregulation of sclerostin in osteocytes mediates bone formation in response to mechanical cues and parathyroid hormone (PTH). To date, the regulation of sclerostin has been attributed exclusively to the transcriptional downregulation of the Sost gene hours after stimulation. Using mouse models and rodent cell lines, we describe the rapid, minute-scale post-translational degradation of sclerostin protein by the lysosome following mechanical load and PTH. We present a model, integrating both new and established mechanically and hormonally activated effectors into the regulated degradation of sclerostin by lysosomes. Using a mouse forelimb mechanical loading model, we find transient inhibition of lysosomal degradation or the upstream mechano-signaling pathway controlling sclerostin abundance impairs subsequent load-induced bone formation by preventing sclerostin degradation. We also link dysfunctional lysosomes to aberrant sclerostin regulation using human Gaucher disease iPSCs. These results reveal how bone anabolic cues post-translationally regulate sclerostin abundance in osteocytes to regulate bone formation.
Project description:We investigated the systemic effect of sclerostin monoclonal antibody (Scl-Ab) treatment on intact non-operated bones in an open osteotomy male Sprague Dawley (SD) rat model. Six-month-old male SD rats were subjected to transverse osteotomy at the right femur mid-shaft. Rats were injected subcutaneously with vehicle or Scl-Ab (25 mg/kg, 2 times per week) treatment for 9 weeks. Compared with vehicle control, Scl-Ab treatment significantly improved trabecular and cortical bone mass and microarchitecture at L5 vertebrae and left femora by micro-CT at week 6 and 9. Mechanical testing showed that Scl-Ab treatment resulted in significantly higher stiffness, energy to failure and ultimate load at the femora at week 9. Mineral apposition rate, mineralizing surface and bone formation rate on the trabecular bone in the distal femora was significantly increased in Scl-Ab group at week 6 and 9. The administered Scl-Ab was localized in the osteocytes and beta-catenin was strongly expressed in osteoblasts. Scl-Ab treatment significantly increased serum P1NP level and there was no between-group difference in serum level of CTX-1. In conclusion, Scl-Ab treatment could induce rapid and sustained increase in bone formation, bone mass and bone strength in non-operated bones. Sclerostin inhibition might be advantageous to prevent secondary fracture(s).
Project description:IntroductionDevelopment of an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis-interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) and improved knowledge of the pathogenesis of RA-ILD may facilitate earlier diagnosis and the development of more effective targeted therapies.MethodsAdult male Wistar rats were studied in an adjuvant arthritis (AA) model induced by the injection of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA). Rats were sacrificed on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 after FCA injection. Lung tissue was obtained for histopathological examination and evaluation of Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) and transforming growth factor-? (TGF-?1) protein expression levels.ResultsPulmonary inflammation was evident in lung tissue from day 21 after FCA injection. Inflammation and mild fibrosis were observed in lung tissue on day 28 after FCA injection. Cav-1 protein expression was significantly decreased from day 7 through day 28 and TGF-?1 protein expression was significantly increased on day 28 after FCA injection compared to control (P < 0.05).ConclusionWe established an AA rat model that exhibited the extra-articular complication of RA-ILD. We identified Cav-1 and TGF-?1 as protein biomarkers of RA-ILD in this model and propose their signaling pathway as a possible target for therapeutic intervention.
Project description:Sclerostin negatively regulates bone formation by antagonizing Wnt signalling. An antibody targeting sclerostin for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with a boxed warning for cardiovascular risk. Here we demonstrate that sclerostin participates in protecting cardiovascular system and inhibiting bone formation via different loops. Loop3 deficiency by genetic truncation could maintain sclerostin's protective effect on the cardiovascular system while attenuating its inhibitory effect on bone formation. We identify an aptamer, named aptscl56, which specifically targets sclerostin loop3 and use a modified aptscl56 version, called Apc001PE, as specific in vivo pharmacologic tool to validate the above effect of loop3. Apc001PE has no effect on aortic aneurysm and atherosclerotic development in ApoE-/- mice and hSOSTki.ApoE-/- mice with angiotensin II infusion. Apc001PE can promote bone formation in hSOSTki mice and ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic rats. In summary, sclerostin loop3 cannot participate in protecting the cardiovascular system, but participates in inhibiting bone formation.