Active caspase-3 is required for osteoclast differentiation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Abstract

Based on our earlier observation that caspase-3 is present in osteoclasts that are not undergoing apoptosis, we investigated the role of this protein in the differentiation of primary osteoclasts and RAW264.7 cells (Szymczyk KH, et al, 2005, Caspase-3 activity is necessary for RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation. The Proceedings of the 8th ICCBMT). We noted that osteoclast numbers are decreased in long bones of procaspase-3 knockout mice and that receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) does not promote differentiation of isolated preosteoclasts. In addition, after treatment with inhibitors of caspase-3 activity, neither the wild-type primary nor the RAW264.7 cells express TRAP or became multinucleated. We found that immediately following RANKL treatment, procaspase-3 is cleaved and the activated protein is localized to lipid regions of the plasma membrane and the cytosol. We developed RAW264.7 procaspase-3 knockdown clonal cell lines using RNAi technology. Again, treatment with RANKL fails to induce TRAP activity or multinucleation. Finally, we evaluated NF-κB in procaspase-3 silenced cells. We found that RANKL treatment prevented activation and nuclear translocation of NF-κB. Together these findings provide direct support for the hypothesis that caspase-3 activity is required for osteoclast differentiation. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Publication Title

Journal of cellular physiology

Volume

209

Issue

3

First Page

836

Last Page

844

Comments

This article was published in Journal of cellular physiology, Volume 209, Issue 3, Pages 836-844.

The published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcp.20770.

Copyright © 2006.

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