Inhibition by adenylyl cyclase-cAMP system of ET-1-induced HSP27 in osteoblasts

Heat shock protein 27 (HSPB1) suppresses the PDGF-BB-induced migration of osteoblasts

Heat shock protein 27 (HSP27/HSPB1), one of the small heat shock proteins, is constitutively expressed in various tissues. HSP27 and its phosphorylation state participate in the regulation of multiple physiological and pathophysiological cell functions. However, the exact roles of HSP27 in osteoblasts remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of HSP27 in the platelet-derived growth factor‑BB (PDGF‑BB)‑stimulated migration of osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. PDGF-BB by itself barely upregulated the expression of HSP27 protein, but stimulated the phosphorylation of HSP27 in these cells. The PDGF-BB‑induced cell migration was significantly downregulated by HSP27 overexpression. The PDGF-BB-induced migrated cell numbers of the wild‑type HSP27-overexpressing cells and the phospho‑mimic HSP27-overexpressing (3D) cells were less than those of the unphosphorylatable HSP27-overexpressing (3A) cells. PD98059, an inhibitor of MEK1/2, SB203580, an inhibitor of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and SP600125, an inhibitor of stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (SAPK/JNK) reduced the PDGF-BB-induced migration of these cells, whereas Akt inhibitor or rapamycin, an inhibitor of upstream kinase of p70 S6 kinase (mTOR), barely affected the migration. However, the PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 MAPΚ, p38 MAPK and SAPK/JNK was not affected by HSP27 overexpression. There were no significant differences in the phosphorylation of p44/p42 MAPΚ, p38 MAP kinase or SAPK/JNK between the 3D cells and the 3A cells. These results strongly suggest that HSP27 functions as a negative regulator in the PDGF-BB-stimulated migration of osteoblasts, and the suppressive effect is amplified by the phosphorylation state of HSP27.

Unphosphorylated heat shock protein 27 suppresses fibroblast growth factor‑2‑stimulated vascular endothelial growth factor release in osteoblasts

Heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) also known as heat shock protein β1 (HSPB1) is a member of the family of small heat shock proteins ubiquitously expressed in all tissues. It has previously been demonstrated that HSP27 regulated the synthesis of osteocalcin and interleukin‑6 in osteoblast‑like MC3T3‑E1 cells. In the present study, the effect of HSP27 on basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF‑2)‑stimulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) synthesis in MC3T3‑E1 cells, was observed. The levels of VEGF release stimulated by FGF‑2 in the HSP27‑overexpressing MC3T3‑E1 cells were significantly lower compared with those in the control cells. In addition, the levels of VEGF release stimulated by FGF-2 in the phosphomimic HSP27-overexpressing cells were significantly higher compared with those in the non‑phosphorylatable HSP27‑overexpressing cells. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed in the FGF‑2‑induced phosphorylation levels of p44/p42 mitogen‑activated protein (MAP) kinase, p38 MAP kinase, stress‑activated protein kinase/c‑Jun N‑terminal kinase (SAPK/JNK) or p70 S6 kinase among the four types of transfected cells. These results suggested that unphosphorylated HSP27 attenuated the FGF‑2‑stimulated VEGF synthesis in osteoblasts.

Regulation by heat shock protein 27 of osteocalcin synthesis in osteoblasts

We have previously reported that various stimuli, including sphingosine 1-phosphate, are able to induce heat shock protein (HSP) 27 in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. However, the precise role of HSP27 in bone metabolism has not been satisfactory clarified. In this study, we investigated the effect of HSP27 on osteocalcin synthesis induced by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-4 or T₃ in these cells. In MC3T3-E1 cells, pretreatment with sphingosine 1-phosphate, sodium arsenite, or heat stress caused the attenuation of osteocalcin synthesis induced by BMP-4 or T₃ with concurrent HSP27 induction. To further investigate the effect of HSP27, we established stable HSP27-transfected cells. The osteocalcin synthesis was significantly reduced in the stable HSP27-transfected MC3T3-E1 cells and normal human osteoblasts compared with empty-vector transfected cells. On the other hand, anisomycin, a p38 MAPK activator, caused the phosphorylation of HSP27 in both sphingosine 1-phosphate-stimulated untransfected MC3T3-E1 cells and HSP27-transfected MC3T3-E1 cells. An immunofluorescence microscopy study showed that the phosphorylated HSP27 induced by anisomycin concentrated perinuclearly in these cells, in which it colocalized with the endoplasmic reticulum. We also established stable mutant-HSP27-transfected cells. Osteocalcin synthesis induced by either BMP-4 or T₃ was markedly suppressed in the nonphosphorylatable HSP27-overexpressing MC3T3-E1 cells compared with the phosphomimic HSP27-overexpressing cells. In contrast, the matrix mineralization was more obvious in nonphosphorylatable HSP27-overexpressing cells than that in phosphomimic HSP27-overexpressing cells. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that unphosphorylated HSP27 has an inhibitory effect on osteocalcin synthesis, but has a stimulatory effect on mineralization, in osteoblasts.