Fhl2 deficiency results in osteopenia due to decreased activity of osteoblasts

• Published in: The EMBO journal Vol. 24; no. 17; pp. 3049 - 3056
• Main Authors: Günther, Thomas, Poli, Cecilia, Müller, Judith M, Catala-Lehnen, Philip, Schinke, Thorsten, Yin, Na, Vomstein, Sandra, Amling, Michael, Schüle, Roland
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 07.09.2005; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Bone Diseases, Metabolic - genetics; Bone Diseases, Metabolic - metabolism; Bone Diseases, Metabolic - pathology; bone formation; Calcification, Physiologic; Cells, Cultured; Core Binding Factor Alpha 1 Subunit; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Female; Fhl2; Health problems; Homeodomain Proteins - genetics; Homeodomain Proteins - metabolism; Humans; LIM-Homeodomain Proteins; Male; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Mineralization; Muscle Proteins - deficiency; Muscle Proteins - genetics; Muscle Proteins - metabolism; osteoblast; Osteoblasts - metabolism; Osteoclasts - metabolism; Osteogenesis; Osteoporosis; Protein Binding; Runx2; Transcription Factor AP-2; Transcription Factors - deficiency; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transcriptional Activation
• ISSN: 0261-4189; 1460-2075
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.emboj.7600773

Osteoporosis is one of the major health problems today, yet little is known about the loss of bone mass caused by reduced activity of the bone‐forming osteoblasts. Here we show that mice deficient for the transcriptional cofactor four and a half LIM domains 2 (Fhl2) exhibit a dramatic decrease of bone mass in both genders. Osteopenia is caused by a reduced bone formation rate that is solely due to the diminished activity of Fhl2‐deficient osteoblasts, while their number remains unchanged. The number and activity of the bone‐resorbing cells, the osteoclasts, is not altered. Enforced expression of Fhl2 in differentiated osteoblasts boosts mineralization in cell culture and, importantly, enhances bone formation in transgenic animals. Fhl2 increases the transcriptional activity of runt‐related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), a key regulator of osteoblast function, and both proteins interact in vitro and in vivo. In summary, we present Fhl2‐deficient mice as a unique model for osteopenia due to decreased osteoblast activity. Our data offer a novel concept to fight osteoporosis by modulating the anabolic activity of osteoblasts via Fhl2.