Contento Barbara Maria, Garibaldi Nadia, Sala Alessandra, Palladino Erika, Oldani Amanda, Carriero Alessandra, Forlino Antonella, Besio Roberta
Department of Molecular Medicine, Biochemistry Unit, University of Pavia, Italy.
Optical Microscopy Facility, Centro Grandi Strumenti, University of Pavia, Italy.
FEBS J. 2025 Apr;292(8):1920-1933. doi: 10.1111/febs.17399. Epub 2025 Jan 20.
The trimeric intracellular cation channel B (TRIC-B), encoded by TMEM38B, is a potassium (K) channel present in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, where it counterbalances calcium (Ca) exit. Lack of TRIC-B activity causes a recessive form of the skeletal disease osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), namely OI type XIV, characterized by impaired intracellular Ca flux and defects in osteoblast (OB) differentiation and activity. Taking advantage of the OB-specific Tmem38b knockout mouse (Runx2Cre;Tmem38b; cKO), we investigated how the ion imbalance affects the osteogenetic process. We found an abnormal cytoskeleton in the cKO OBs, with actin accumulation at OB adhesion sites. The reduced amount of active Ca-dependent actin-binding proteins myristoylated alanine-rich C-kinase substrate (MARCKS) and fascin, which modulate cytoskeletal actin dynamics, explains the altered cytoskeletal assembly. The actin clusters at adhesion sites trap β-catenin, a key structural protein at cell-cell junction sites, that abnormally accumulates despite the significant reduction in both N- and E-cadherins. Besides its structural fuction at cell borders, β-catenin also has a pivotal role as a transcription factor for proper osteoblastogenesis. Immunofluorescence of cKO nuclei revealed impaired nuclear β-catenin translocation, further validated in human fetal OB knocked out for TMEM38B, which was not rescued by specifically stimulating the canonical Wnt pathway. Thus, we demonstrated in vitro that alterations of intracellular Ca homeostasis, as a consequence of lack of TRIC-B, cause cytoskeleton disorganization in cKO OBs, resulting in abnormal β-catenin accumulation at cell adhesion sites and reduced nuclear β-catenin translocation, contributing to impaired osteoblastogenesis.
由TMEM38B编码的三聚体细胞内阳离子通道B(TRIC-B)是一种存在于内质网膜中的钾(K)通道,在那里它平衡钙(Ca)的流出。TRIC-B活性的缺乏会导致骨骼疾病成骨不全(OI)的隐性形式,即十四型OI,其特征是细胞内钙通量受损以及成骨细胞(OB)分化和活性缺陷。利用OB特异性Tmem38b基因敲除小鼠(Runx2Cre;Tmem38b; cKO),我们研究了离子失衡如何影响骨生成过程。我们发现cKO成骨细胞中细胞骨架异常,肌动蛋白在成骨细胞粘附位点积累。调节细胞骨架肌动蛋白动力学的活性钙依赖性肌动蛋白结合蛋白肉豆蔻酰化富含丙氨酸的蛋白激酶底物(MARCKS)和丝束蛋白数量减少,这解释了细胞骨架组装的改变。粘附位点处的肌动蛋白簇捕获β-连环蛋白,β-连环蛋白是细胞间连接位点的关键结构蛋白,尽管N-钙粘蛋白和E-钙粘蛋白均显著减少,但它仍异常积累。除了在细胞边界的结构功能外,β-连环蛋白作为适当成骨细胞生成的转录因子也起着关键作用。cKO细胞核的免疫荧光显示核β-连环蛋白易位受损,在敲除TMEM38B的人胎儿成骨细胞中得到进一步验证,通过特异性刺激经典Wnt途径并不能挽救这种情况。因此,我们在体外证明,由于缺乏TRIC-B导致的细胞内钙稳态改变会导致cKO成骨细胞中的细胞骨架紊乱,导致细胞粘附位点处β-连环蛋白异常积累以及核β-连环蛋白易位减少,并导致成骨细胞生成受损。