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The differentiation of osteoblasts from their precursors, mesenchymal stem cells, is an important component of bone homeostasis as well as fracture healing. The A2B adenosine receptor (A2BAR) is a Gαs/αq-protein-coupled receptor that signals via cAMP. cAMP-mediated signaling has been demonstrated to regulate the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into various skeletal tissue lineages. Here, we studied the role of this receptor in the differentiation of MSCs to osteoblasts. In vitro differentiation of bone marrow-derived MSCs from A2BAR KO mice resulted in lower expression of osteoblast differentiation transcription factors and the development of fewer mineralized nodules, as compared with WT mice. The mechanism of effect involves, at least partially, cAMP as indicated by experiments involving activation of the A2BAR or addition of a cAMP analog during differentiation. Intriguingly, in vivo, microcomputed tomography analysis of adult femurs showed lower bone density in A2BAR KO mice as compared with WT. Furthermore, A2BAR KO mice display a delay in normal fracture physiology with lower expression of osteoblast differentiation genes. Thus, our study identified the A2BAR as a new regulator of osteoblast differentiation, bone formation, and fracture repair.

Calf aortic smooth muscle cell cultures produce both type III and type I collagen. Polyadenylated mRNA species purified from these cells direct the synthesis of prepro-alpha 1(III), prepro-alpha 1(I), and prepro-alpha 2(I) in a rabbit reticulocyte cell-free system. These polypeptides were identified by specific immunoprecipitation, cyanogen bromide peptide mapping, and bacterial collagenase digestion. Lower molecular weight collagenase susceptible polypeptides were also produced in translation reactions incubated under conditions optimized for incorporation of radiolabeled amino acids. Their presence did not appear to result from ribonuclease or protease involvement or from premature termination. Increasing the Mg2+ concentration in the translation system significantly reduced the production of these lower molecular weight species. Pulse-chase experiments indicate that the time required for completion of full length preprocollagen at the high Mg2+ concentration is greatly decreased compared to the low concentration. Additional experiments suggest that the incomplete collagen polypeptides result from pausing of ribosome movement during elongation. The relative synthesis of type III and type I chains was examined as a function of mRNA concentration in the cell-free system. At levels of RNA above saturation, the relative production of type III decreased with respect to type I. These data suggest that the ability of the alpha 1(III) mRNA to initiate translation is less efficient than the mRNAs of alpha 1(I) and alpha 2(I).

We have reported previously that 17 beta-estradiol reduces the amount of procollagen type III produced in cultured bovine aortic smooth muscle cells. The effect of cell density and estradiol on the production of collagen in second passage cultures has been further evaluated. In agreement with our previous findings, at day 14, significant differences in [14C]hydroxyproline production were detected between hormone-treated and control cultures. To further relate this observation to cell culture density and estradiol treatment, collagen production was evaluated after a 1-h pulse period. Quantities of assembled procollagen molecules and the individual collagenous polypeptides were determined by DEAE-cellulose chromatography or by immunoprecipitation. As cell numbers increased with time in culture, an augmented production of both procollagen types I and III was observed. The increased production of total type III collagen and procollagen molecules lagged behind type I production. Thus, it was found that the ratio of procollagen type I to type III decreased with days in culture from 2.7 to 1.0, and the ratio of the total of each type decreased from 7.5 to 3.4. In the presence of 1.0 x 10(-8) M estradiol, the level of type III collagen was reduced by approximately 50% at all culture times. The production of procollagen type I was not affected and remained equivalent in both hormone-treated and control cultures. The different ratios obtained by the two methods indicates that procollagen type I is processed more rapidly than procollagen type III in the 1-hour pulse period.

The processing of type III and type I procollagen molecules in cultured bovine aortic smooth muscle cells was investigated. The molecular identities of the processing intermediates of type III and type I procollagen were characterized by analysis of the radioactive collagenous components using mammalian collagenase and pepsin digestions and cyanogen bromide peptide mapping. The results indicate that the processed intermediates for procollagen type III and type I are their respective pC components. Although the processing pathways for both collagen types are the same, data from pulse-chase experiments suggest that the rates at which the processing occurs are different. Type I procollagen is processed more rapidly to its intermediate than is type III procollagen. The type I pC intermediate is almost completely processed to alpha-chains and a significant portion of these fully processed molecules remains in a soluble form even after 11 h. In the same time period, the type III pC intermediate is slowly converted to alpha-chains. Since beta-aminopropionitrile was not employed in these studies, significant accumulation of collagen chains into the insoluble extracellular matrix was observed during the chase period.

Genomic clones corresponding to the amino-terminal propeptide and 5'-flanking sequences of the chicken pro-alpha 1(I) collagen gene were isolated as a first step in the identification of DNA sequences important for transcriptional regulation of the pro-alpha 1(I) collagen gene. Due to the failure to identify positive clones in either primary or amplified genomic libraries, a 5.1-kilobase pair StuI genomic fragment identified by Southern blotting was enriched by sucrose gradient fractionation of genomic DNA and cloned into lambda gt11. Comparison of the DNA sequence of the 5.1-kilobase pair StuI fragment to the DNA sequence of a cDNA clone encoding the amino-terminal propeptide, signal peptide, and the 5'-untranslated region identified the first four exons and most of the fifth. Exon size and intron position have been largely conserved between human and chicken alpha 1(I) genes. DNA sequence analysis of the region 5' to the transcription initiation site identified the canonical TATA and CAAT boxes. However, the 40-nucleotide pyrimidine stretch centered between -150 and -180 nucleotides, found in all previously isolated type I procollagen genes from chicken, mouse, and human, was absent in the chicken pro-alpha 1(I) collagen gene. This sequence corresponds to the in vivo DNase I hypersensitive site in the chicken pro-alpha 2(I) and mouse pro-alpha 1(I) collagen genes, as well as the in vitro S1 nuclease hypersensitive site in both chicken and mouse pro-alpha 2(I) collagen genes. Two unusual DNA sequences were identified within the chicken pro-alpha 1(I) collagen gene. Fifteen tandem repeats of the sequence GGGGAGA were identified within the first intron, 300 nucleotides 3' to the first exon. This sequence was identified due to its hypersensitivity to S1 nuclease in vitro in supercoiled plasmids. The second sequence located 5' to -180 contained at least 25 copies of a polymorphic, 23-base pair tandemly repeated sequence not identified in other type I procollagen genes. Both of these tandem repeat sequences were identified at other locations in the chicken genome by Southern blot hybridization.