Parathyroid hormone induces bone resorption in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Molecular cloning and functional characterization of the porcine extracellular domain of Receptor Activator of NF-κB Ligand (sRANKL)

Receptor Activator of NF-κB Ligand (RANKL) plays a pivotal role as a regulator of osteoclast activity and is involved in osteoporosis. Here, we report the cloning and functional characterization of the complete extracellular domain of the porcine RANKL gene (sRANKL). The porcine sRANKL cDNA has an ORF of 744 nucleotides and shares 87%, 80% and 80% identity with human, rat and mouse RANKL coding sequences, respectively. The protein consists of 247 amino acids with 90%, 81% and 80% sequences similarities compared to human, mouse and rat RANKL, respectively. Over-expression of porcine sRANKL led to osteoclast formation. The osteoclasts showed a characteristic morphology, expressed the carbonic anhydrase type 2, were TRACP positive and exhibited a bone-resorbing activity. In conclusion, we first describe the molecular cloning and functional characterization of porcine sRANKL, which will help to understand the function of a RANKL gene in large animal models.

RANK Expression as a cell surface marker of human osteoclast precursors in peripheral blood, bone marrow, and giant cell tumors of bone

RANK expression in vivo on hematopoietic subsets including pre-osteoclasts, identified by monoclonal antibodies, has not been described. We describe the lineages that express RANK in bone marrow, peripheral blood, and GCTs. We show that CD14(+)RANK(high) cells constitute a circulating pre-osteoclast pool.

INTRODUCTION

The expression of RANK by subsets of hematopoietic cells has not been adequately studied in humans. While attributed to the monocytoid lineage, the phenotype of the pre-osteoclast (pre-OC) with respect to RANK expression in vivo remains unclear. We tested monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) raised against the extracellular domain of recombinant human RANK for reactivity with normal peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells (PBMNCs and BMMNCs, respectively). We also tested reactivity with giant cell tumor cells (GCT), a confirmed source of pre-OC and mature OCs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Human PBMNCs, BMMNCs, and GCT cells were analyzed for reactivity with anti-RANK MAbs by flow cytometry in combination with hematopoietic lineage restricted markers. GCTs were also analyzed by immunofluorescence. CD14+ monocytoid cells were sorted by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) based on their relative RANK expression and cultured under OC-forming conditions.

RESULTS

RANK+ cells were detected similarly by three independent anti-RANK MAbs. One MAb (80736) immunoprecipitated RANK-RANKL complexes from surface-biotinylated GCT lysates. Using dual-color flow cytometry, RANK was detected on CD14+ (monocytoid), CD19+ (B-lymphoid), CD56+ (NK cell), and glycophorin A+ erythroid progenitors. Minor populations of both CD3+ T lymphocytes and BM CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors also expressed cell surface RANK. In GCTs, RANK expression was identified on mononuclear CD45(+)CD14(+)alphaVbeta3(+)c-Fms+ cells, likely to be committed pre-OC, and on multinucleated CD45(+)alphaVbeta3(+)TRACP(+) OCs. Importantly, sorted CD14(+)RANK(high) PBMNCs treated with recombinant RANKL and macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) gave rise to approximately twice the number of osteoclasts than RANK(mid) or RANK(low) cells.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that committed monocytoid RANK+ pre-OCs are represented in the marrow and circulate in the periphery, forming a pool of cells capable of responding rapidly to RANKL. The ability to reliably detect committed pre-OC in peripheral blood could have important clinical applications in the management of diseases characterized by abnormal osteoclastic activity.

Regulation of the differentiation and function of osteoclasts

The osteoclast is the cell that resorbs bone. It has been known for many years that its formation and function are regulated by cells of the osteoblastic lineage. Recently the molecular basis for this regulation was identified; osteoblastic cells induce osteoclastic differentiation and resorptive activity through expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) activation-induced cytokine (TRANCE) (also known as RANKL, ODF, OPGL, and TNFSF11), a novel membrane-inserted member of the TNF superfamily. Osteoclastic regulation is assisted through secretion of an inhibitor, osteoprotegerin (OPG) (OCIF, TNFRSF11B), a soluble (decoy) receptor for TRANCE. Osteoclast formation and survival also depend on and are substantially enhanced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), which is abundant in bone matrix. Surprisingly, not only TRANCE but also TNF-alpha can induce osteoclast formation in vitro from bone marrow-derived mononuclear phagocytes, especially in the presence of TGF-beta. Whether or not TNF-alpha does the same in vivo, its ability to generate osteoclasts in vitro has significant implications regarding the nature of osteoclasts and their relationship to other mononuclear phagocytes, and a possible wider role for TRANCE in macrophage pathobiology. A hypothesis is presented in which the osteoclast is a mononuclear phagocyte directed towards a debriding function by TGF-beta, activated for this function by TRANCE, and induced to become specifically osteoclastic by the characteristics of the substrate or signals from bone cells that betoken such characteristics.

Intermittent administration of human parathyroid Hormone(1-34) prevents immobilization-related bone loss by regulating bone marrow capacity for bone cells in ddY mice

ddY mice, 6 weeks of age, were neurectomized (Nx) in the right hindlimbs and sham-operated (Sham) in the left limbs for evaluation of the effects of intermittent injections of human parathyroid hormone (hPTH) on trabecular bone turnover and bone marrow cell development in unloaded and loaded limbs. Mice were given subcutaneous injections of hPTH(1-34) five times a week at a dose of 0 (vehicle), 4 (low dose), or 40 (high dose) microg/kg of body weight for 2, 4, or 6 weeks. Histomorphometric analyses of the trabecular bone of the proximal tibiae revealed that high-dose hPTH injections preserved the trabecular bone volume of the Nx limbs, which was reduced after neurectomy, at the same level as that of the contralateral Sham limbs. The mineral apposition rate in the Nx limbs was elevated to values above even that of the Sham limbs by high-dose hPTH injections. The bone formation rate reduced by neurectomy was maintained at the Sham level by low- and high-dose hPTH injections. The neurectomy-induced increase in osteoclast number was suppressed by high-dose hPTH injections. In the bone marrow cells, the numbers of nonadherent and adherent cells per tibia obtained from the Nx and Sham limbs did not change. The hPTH injections decreased the numbers of nonadherent cells and increased those of adherent cells in both the Nx and the Sham limbs, but the effects were less marked in the Nx than in the Sham limbs even at high-dose injections. The formation of osteogenic nodules in the marrow cultures obtained from the Nx limbs was decreased after surgery and was maintained at the level of the Sham limbs by high-dose hPTH injections. The number of osteoclast-like multinucleated cells was reduced in the Sham limbs by high-dose hPTH injections. The value was increased at 2 weeks after neurectomy, but it was maintained at the Sham level by high-dose hPTH injections through the experimental period. The numbers of colony forming units-fibroblastic, which were reduced by neurectomy, and those of colony forming units for granulocytes and macrophages were not altered by hPTH injections. These results demonstrate that intermittent high-dose hPTH administration in the Nx limbs as well as in the contralateral Sham limbs has similar anabolic effects, stimulating osteoblast cell lineage and suppressing osteoclast cell lineage. The anabolic effects at 4 microg were reduced, but the effects at 40 microg seemed to be less affected by unloading due to sciatic neurectomy.