Although the main function of PTH remains to regulate bone metabolism and maintain calcium homeostasis [
Arnaud et al., 1970], several studies have investigated its anabolic effects in osteoporotic patients [
Bilezikian et al., 2005;
Black et al., 2003;
Neer et al., 2001]. As fragility fractures continue to pose a unique dilemma to clinicians in terms of understanding fracture biology as well as establishing practical pharmacological agents that will reduce the relative risk of future fractures, the anabolic effects of PTH were also investigated during bone repair both in clinical trials and using animal models [
Alkhiary et al., 2005;
Jiang et al., 2005;
Neer et al., 2001]. Previously, a fracture prevention trial established the role of teriparatide as an anabolic agent capable of reducing the risk of fragility fractures in postmenopausal women [
Black et al., 2003;
Neer et al., 2001]. However, a possible role for teriparatide in enhancing bony union of post-traumatic fractures should be postulated. Here we report the effects of teriparatide on bone repair in a mouse fracture model. We examined the cellular and molecular pathways underlying PTH enhancement of fracture healing. We believe that one possible mechanism by which PTH mediates fracture repair is through up-regulation of the zinc finger transcription factor
Osx in mesenchymal stem cells, which in turn stimulates their recruitment and differentiation into mature osteoblasts.
Previous studies have described antagonistic effects of PTH on bone formation upon its mode of administration
in vitro and
in vivo [
Alkhiary et al., 2005;
Andreassen et al., 1999;
Andreassen et al., 2004;
Black et al., 2003;
Jiang et al., 2005;
Nakazawa et al., 2005;
Neer et al., 2001;
Thomas, 2006]. While continuous exposure to PTH leads to massive bone loss
in vivo through increased osteoclast mediated bone resorption following enhanced osteoclast density and activity [
Hadjidakis et al., 2006;
Potts, 2005], Ishizuya and colleagues demonstrated the ability of PTH treatment administered under an intermittent regimen to induce bone formation through enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium content and the number of mineralized bone nodules deposited by rat calvaria-derived osteoprogenitor cells
in vitro [
Ishizuya et al., 1997]. Here we show that intermittent exposure of osteoprogenitor cells to PTH enhances
Osx expression and promotes osteoblast differentiation.
The cellular events required for proper fracture healing of long bones through endochondral ossification are well documented [
Ferguson et al., 1999;
Gerstenfeld et al., 2003;
Vortkamp et al., 1998]. Systemic and growth factors are produced in response to skeletal injury leading to the recruitment of progenitor cells from both the bone marrow as well as the periosteum to the site of injury [
Hiltunen et al., 1993]. Several investigations reported the requirement for factors including the TGF-β superfamily, the PDGF, FGF, Ihh, prostaglandins, Wnt and VEGF during fracture repair [
Gerstenfeld et al., 2003] yet very limited information is available about the mechanisms of action of their downstream targets in fracture calluses. Therefore, we addressed the molecular aspects of mesenchymal stem cell recruitment and differentiation that mediate fracture healing in response to PTH using an animal mouse model. We found that teriparatide increases cartilage and bone formation in the fracture callus at 7 and 10 days post-fracture.
Our assessment of gene expression in the fracture calluses in response to teriparatide shows that Osx expression was up-regulated in the fracture callus following treatment compared to saline injected controls. These results clearly suggest a correlation between PTH enhanced fracture repair and the known Osx mediated commitment of MSCs to the osteoblastic phenotype. We found that while markers of chondrocyte maturation are decreased as the fracture calluses ossify, osteoblast differentiation markers be induced. However, the inductive effects of teriparatide on Sox9 and type II collagen gene expression 7 days post-facture suggest a positive effect on chondrogenesis. Although, chondrocytes exhibit receptors for PTHrP, the effects of PTH on chondrogenesis are not known. These effects may also be indirect. Finally, although the effects of teriparatide on type I collagen gene expression were inductive in the fracture callus between 10 and 14 days post-fracture, PTH treatment inhibited type I collagen expression three weeks following treatment. This could be attributed to enhanced osteoblast maturation in the fracture callus as evidenced by the significant increase in osteocalcin expression at day 21. However, at day 7 post-fracture, teriparatide also inhibited type I collagen expression which in combination with its effects on Sox9 and type II collagen further suggests an effect of PTH on chondrogenesis during fracture healing.
In addition to its role in mediating bi-potent mesenchymal progenitor cell commitment toward osteogenesis [
Nakashima et al., 2002], we have recently reported that Osx not only mediates MSC differentiation into mature osteoblasts but also strongly inhibits chondrocyte maturation [
Kaback et al., 2008]. Our present study demonstrates that systemic treatment of these mice with teriparatide not only enhanced mesenchymal progenitor cell differentiation into mature osteoblasts, but also increased
Osx expression in these marrow derived cells isolated from teriparatide treated mice
in vivo. This increase in
Osx expression along with osteoblastic phenotypic markers was concomitant with Runx2 expression. Our results demonstrate that systemic teriparatide treatment was able to induce Runx2 levels in the callus in the early time points following fracture healing. It is however noteworthy that Runx2 levels were not induced after day 10 when cartilage is replaced with bone in the callus, while Osx levels were still upregulated. While this shift is Osx versus Runx2 expression during callus formation and remodeling may be in support of the dogma of Osx being downstream of Runx2, it is not clear why PTH did not continue to induce Runx2 expression when cartilage is replaced with bone.
Previous evidence attributed the anabolic effects of PTH on bone formation to the induction of Runx2 [
Krishnan et al., 2003]. The anabolic effects of PTH on bone formation were previously attributed to the increased expression of Runx2 through the PKA pathway [
Krishnan et al., 2003]. The genetic evidence provided by the loss of
Osx or
Runx2 function suggested that Osx may be downstream of Runx2. We have previously shown that Osx may be a direct downstream target of Runx2 in various cell lines [
Nishio et al., 2006]. However, emerging evidence in recent studies also advocate a
Runx2 independent activation of
Osx gene expression [
Lee et al., 2003;
Nakashima et al., 2003;
Tu et al., 2006;
van der et al., 2005]. It is possible that while PTH targets both Runx2 and Osx, its effects may be directly mediated through Osx and independently from Runx2. Further studies will delineate the precise role of Osx in mesenchymal stem cell recruitment to the fracture site in response to PTH treatment. Together, our findings bring novel insight into the cellular and molecular pathways underlying PTH mediated fracture repair thereby supporting its use not only as an anabolic agent for postmenopausal/osteoporotic bone loss but also for skeletal tissue repair and bone regeneration.