Osteocalcin regulates murine and human fertility through a pancreas-bone-testis axis

• Published in: The Journal of clinical investigation Vol. 123; no. 6; pp. 2421 - 2433
• Main Authors: Oury, Franck, Ferron, Mathieu, Huizhen, Wang, Confavreux, Cyrille, Xu, Lin, Lacombe, Julie, Srinivas, Prashanth, Chamouni, Alexandre, Lugani, Francesca, Lejeune, Herve, Kumar, T. Rajendra, Plotton, Ingrid, Karsenty, Gerard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Clinical Investigation 01.06.2013
• Subjects: Adult; Amino Acid Sequence; Amino Acid Substitution; Animals; Base Sequence; Biomedical research; Biosynthesis; Bone and Bones - pathology; Bone Resorption; Cell culture; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Experiments; Fertility, Human; Genes, Dominant; Genetic aspects; Genetic Association Studies; Genetic testing; HEK293 Cells; Humans; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Insulin - physiology; Luteinizing Hormone - physiology; Male; Men; Mice; Mice, 129 Strain; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Middle Aged; Oligospermia - genetics; Oligospermia - metabolism; Organ Size; Osteoblasts - metabolism; Osteocalcin - physiology; Pancreas; Pancreas - metabolism; Peptide hormones; Physiological aspects; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled - genetics; Rodents; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sperm; Testis - pathology; Testosterone; Testosterone - biosynthesis; France; United States

The osteoblast-derived hormone osteocalcin promotes testosterone biosynthesis in the mouse testis by binding to GPRC6A in Leydig cells. Interestingly, Osteocalcin-deficient mice exhibit increased levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), a pituitary hormone that regulates sex steroid synthesis in the test...