Osteoblast Regulation Via Ligand-Activated Nuclear Trafficking of the Oxytocin Receptor
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Osteoblast regulation via ligand-activated nuclear trafficking of the oxytocin receptor Adriana Di Benedettoa,b, Li Sunc,d, Carlo G. Zambonine, Roberto Tammaa, Beatrice Nicoa, Cosima D. Calvanoe, Graziana Colaiannia, Yaoting Jic,d, Giorgio Morib, Maria Granoa, Ping Luc,d, Silvia Coluccia, Tony Yuenc,d, Maria I. Newf,1, Alberta Zallonea,2, and Mone Zaidic,d,g,1,2 aDepartment of Basic Medical Science, Neurosciences and Sensory Organs, University of Bari Aldo Moro Medical School, Bari 70126, Italy; bDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia 71122, Italy; cMount Sinai Bone Program and dDepartment of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029; eDepartment of Chemistry, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari 70126, Italy; and Departments of fPediatrics and gStructural and Chemical Biology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029 Contributed by Maria I. New, October 8, 2014 (sent for review August 27, 2014); reviewed by Xu Cao, Christopher Huang, and Carlos Isales We report that oxytocin (Oxt) receptors (Oxtrs), on stimulation by bisphosphate 3-kinase (Akt/PI3K) (9, 10). Such mechanisms can the ligand Oxt, translocate into the nucleus of osteoblasts, impli- elicit delayed genomic responses. cating this process in the action of Oxt on osteoblast maturation. After being internalized, GPCRs are either recycled back to Sequential immunocytochemistry of intact cells or isolated nucleo- the plasma membrane to resensitize the cell to ligand action or plasts stripped of the outer nuclear membrane showed progressive transported to lysosomes for degradation. Although G proteins nuclear localization of the Oxtr; this nuclear translocation was con- have been found in the Golgi body, endoplasmic reticulum, and firmed by monitoring the movement of Oxtr–EGFP as well as by cytoskeleton (11–13), GPCRs can localize to the nucleus or nuclear immunogold labeling. Nuclear Oxtr localization was conclusively membrane (14–16). For example, on treatment with sphingosine-1- shown by Western immunoblotting and MS of nuclear lysate pro- phosphate (S1P), the S1P receptor subtype 1 can translocate to teins. We found that the passage of Oxtrs into the nucleus was endothelial cell nuclei to activate transcription (17). Likewise, facilitated by successive interactions with β-arrestins (Arrbs), the chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), expressed in monocyte, has been small GTPase Rab5, importin-β (Kpnb1), and transportin-1 (Tnpo1). shown to interact directly with transportin-1 (Tnpo1) to undergo siRNA-mediated knockdown of Arrb1, Arrb2,orTnpo1 abrogated nuclear localization (18). Cysteine (C)-X-C Receptor 4 (CXCR4) MEDICAL SCIENCES Oxt-induced expression of the osteoblast differentiation genes α α osterix (Sp7), Atf4, bone sialoprotein (Ibsp), and osteocalcin (Bglap) similarly responds to stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1 )to without affecting Erk phosphorylation. Likewise and again, with- undergo internalization and Tnpo1-mediated nuclear targeting in out affecting pErk, inhibiting Arrb recruitment by mutating Ser prostate cancer cells (19). rich clusters of the nuclear localization signal to Ala abolished nu- Human osteosarcoma and breast cancer cell lines display both clear import and Oxtr-induced gene expression. These studies define cell membrane and nuclear Oxtrs (20). However, the functional a previously unidentified mechanism for Oxtr action on bone and significance of the nuclear localization of the Oxtr or indeed, any open possibilities for direct transcriptional modulation by nuclear G GPCR continues to unravel. Here, we have combined proteomic, protein-coupled receptors. molecular, and cell biological approaches to confirm the translocation of the Oxtr to the nucleus in osteoblasts after Oxt nuclear translocation | G protein-coupled receptor | binding and to study the putative function of this pathway in Oxt- transcriptional regulation induced bone formation. We find that Oxtr nuclear localization is Arrb- and Tnpo1-dependent. Thus, siRNA knockdown of he oxytocin (Oxt) receptor (Oxtr), a member of the rho- Arrb or Tnpo1 inhibits not only nuclear localization but also, Tdopsin-type (class I) family of G protein-coupled receptors the proosteoblastic action of Oxt, interestingly without affect- (GPCRs), responds to the neurohypophyseal hormone Oxt to ing Erk phosphorylation. These findings represent a hitherto stimulate lactation and social bonding (1, 2). More recently, we unrecognized pathway for Oxt action. and others have shown that Oxt also stimulates bone formation directly by interacting with an osteoblastic Oxtr (3, 4). The ge- Significance netic deletion of Oxt or Oxtr in mice thus decreases osteoblast differentiation and bone formation, causing osteopenia (5, 6). We We have shown previously that oxytocin (Oxt), other than believe that this action supports maternal skeletal remineralization regulating lactation and social bonding, is a potent stimulator after the intergenerational transfer of calcium during pregnancy of bone formation by the osteoblast. Here, we present evi- and lactation (5). However, the precise mechanism through dence that this action is exerted through the nuclear localiza- which Oxtr activation translates into increased bone formation tion of the Oxt receptor (Oxtr). Our findings prompt additional remains unclear. studies into the contribution of nuclear Oxtr signaling in reg- ulating lactation and social bonding. Oxt binding to Oxtrs is known to activate both G protein Gαi- and Gαq/11-mediated phospholipase C pathways (7). However, in Author contributions: T.Y., M.I.N., A.Z., and M.Z. designed research; A.D.B., L.S., C.G.Z., common with other GPCRs, prolonged or repetitive agonist R.T., B.N., C.D.C., G.C., Y.J., G.M., and P.L. performed research; A.D.B., L.S., C.G.Z., R.T., stimulation by Oxt results in Oxtr internalization through C.D.C., M.G., S.C., T.Y., A.Z., and M.Z. analyzed data; and T.Y., M.I.N., A.Z., and M.Z. wrote β-arrestin (Arrb). GPCR internalization can activate signaling the paper. pathways quite distinct from those activated by the same Reviewers: X.C., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; C.H., University of Cambridge; and C.I., Georgia Regents University. receptors resident at the cell surface. Hence, desensitization of The authors declare no conflict of interest. primary G protein-dependent signaling can be followed by a sec- 1 – β To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: [email protected] or mone. ond wave of Arrb mediated signaling (8). -Arrestins can also [email protected]. recruit signaling proteins that connect GPCRs to various cyto- 2A.Z. and M.Z. contributed equally to this work. plasmic effector pathways, such as mitogen-activated protein This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. kinase (MAPK) and protein kinase B/phosphatidylinositol-4,5- 1073/pnas.1419349111/-/DCSupplemental. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1419349111 PNAS Early Edition | 1of6 Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 Results Considering the newly discovered anabolic function of Oxt in skeletal regulation, we sought to investigate the fate of the os- teoblast Oxtr after Oxt binding. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy showed that, in primary murine osteoblasts and MC3T3.E1 preosteoblastic cells, exposure to Oxt triggered the nuclear localization of Oxtrs. Under basal unstimulated con- ditions, Oxtrs appeared mainly at the plasma membrane and in − the cytoplasm, whereas 20–40 min after the addition of Oxt (10 8 M), a clear nuclear localization was observed (Fig. 1A). This effect was definitively verified by transmission electron micros- copy using an immunogold-labeled secondary antibody. Again, under basal conditions, immunogold particles corresponding to the anti-Oxtr were observed mainly on the plasma membrane, whereas after Oxt treatment, they progressively moved to the cy- toplasm (∼20 min) and then, the nuclear membrane and nucleus (∼40 min) (Fig. 1B). To exclude potential artifacts arising from the extreme flatness of cultured cells or possible localization of Oxtrs to membrane structures close to the nuclear compartment, we isolated intact nucleoplasts from primary murine osteoblasts. Our technique removes the outer nuclear membrane, yielding a pure fraction of nucleoplasts that are surrounded by the inner but not outer membrane. Nucleoplasts were isolated after stimulation of intact osteoblasts with Oxt (40 min) and stained for Oxtr and importin-β (Kpnb1); the latter is a known inner nuclear membrane and nucleoplasm marker. Confocal microscopy revealed intense Oxtr immunofluorescence localized mainly within the inner nuclear membrane (Fig. 1C). Merged micrographs showed that Oxtr colocalized with Kpnb1, thus confirming the presence of the receptors at the inner nuclear membrane (Fig. 1C). Nuclear lo- calization was further evaluated independently by transfecting − − osteoblasts derived from Oxtr / mice with Oxtr–EGFP fusion plasmid (gift from Bice Chini, The National Research Council, Milan, Italy) with EGFP tagged to the Oxtr carboxyl terminus. − After exposure to Oxt (10 8 M), nucleoplasts were again isolated and marked with the anti-Kpnb1 antibody. Exogenous Oxtr– EGFP was found to localize to the inner nuclear membrane in a pattern that overlapped to an extent with Kpnb1 (Fig. 1D). We also used biochemical and proteomic approaches to de- finitively confirm the nuclear localization observed on micros- copy. Western immunoblotting was used to study the presence of Oxtrs in the cytosolic and nuclear