Paget disease is the most exaggerated example of abnormal bone remodeling, with the primary cellular abnormality in the osteoclast. Mutations in the p62 (sequestosome 1) gene occur in one-third of patients with familial Paget disease and in a minority of patients with sporadic Paget disease, with the P392L amino acid substitution being the most commonly observed mutation. However, it is unknown how p62P392L mutation contributes to the development of this disease. To determine the effects of p62P392L expression on osteoclasts in vitro and in vivo, we introduced either the p62P392L or WT p62 gene into normal osteoclast precursors and targeted p62P392L expression to the osteoclast lineage in transgenic mice. p62P392L-transduced osteoclast precursors were hyperresponsive to receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and TNF-α and showed increased NF-κB signaling but did not demonstrate increased 1,25-(OH)2D3 responsivity, TAFII-17 expression, or nuclear number per osteoclast. Mice expressing p62P392L developed increased osteoclast numbers and progressive bone loss, but osteoblast numbers were not coordinately increased, as is seen in Paget disease. These results indicate that p62P392L expression on osteoclasts is not sufficient to induce the full pagetic phenotype but suggest that p62 mutations cause a predisposition to the development of Paget disease by increasing the sensitivity of osteoclast precursors to osteoclastogenic cytokines.
Noriyoshi Kurihara, Yuko Hiruma, Hua Zhou, Mark A. Subler, David W. Dempster, Frederick R. Singer, Sakamuri V. Reddy, Helen E. Gruber, Jolene J. Windle, G. David Roodman