Search

Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME) is a rare pediatric disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the genes encoding the heparan sulfate (HS)-synthesizing enzymes EXT1 or EXT2. HME is characterized by formation of cartilaginous outgrowths-called osteochondromas- next to the growth plates of many axial and appendicular skeletal elements. Surprisingly, it is not known whether such tumors also form in endochondral elements of the craniofacial skeleton. Here, we carried out a retrospective analysis of cervical spine MRI and CT scans from 50 consecutive HME patients that included cranial skeletal images. Interestingly, nearly half of the patients displayed moderate defects or osteochondroma-like outgrowths in the cranial base and specifically in the clivus. In good correlation, osteochondromas developed in the cranial base of mutant Ext1f/f;Col2-CreER or Ext1f/f;Aggrecan-CreER mouse models of HME along the synchondrosis growth plates. Osteochondroma formation was preceded by phenotypic alteration of cells at the chondro-perichondrial boundary and was accompanied by ectopic expression of major cartilage matrix genes -collagen 2 and collagen X- within the growing ectopic masses. Because chondrogenesis requires bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, we asked whether osteochondroma formation could be blocked by a BMP signaling antagonist. Systemic administration with LDN-193189 effectively inhibited osteochondroma growth in conditional Ext1-mutant mice. In vitro studies with mouse embryo chondrogenic cells clarified the mechanisms of LDN-193189 action that turned out to include decreases in canonical BMP signaling pSMAD1/5/8 effectors but interestingly, concurrent increases in such anti-chondrogenic mechanisms as pERK1/2 and Chordin, Fgf9 and Fgf18 expression. Our study is the first to reveal that the cranial base can be affected in patients with HME and that osteochondroma formation is amenable to therapeutic drug intervention.

Chondrogenesis subtends the development of most skeletal elements and involves mesenchymal cell condensations differentiating into growth plate chondrocytes that proliferate, undergo hypertrophy, and are replaced by bone. In the pediatric disorder Hereditary Multiple Exostoses, however, chondrogenesis occurs also at ectopic sites and causes formation of benign cartilaginous tumors--exostoses--near the growth plates. No treatment is currently available to prevent or reverse exostosis formation. Here, we asked whether chondrogenesis could be stopped by targeting the hedgehog pathway, one of its major regulators. Micromass cultures of limb mesenchymal cells were treated with increasing amounts of the hedgehog inhibitor HhAntag or vehicle. The drug effectively blocked chondrogenesis and did so in a dose-dependent manner as monitored by: alcian blue-positive cartilage nodule formation; gene expression of cartilage marker genes; and reporter activity in Gli1-LacZ cell cultures. HhAntag blocked chondrogenesis even when the cultures were co-treated with bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2), a strong pro-chondrogenic factor. Immunoblots showed that HhAntag action included modulation of canonical (pSmad1/5/8) and non-canonical (pp38) BMP signaling. In cultures co-treated with HhAntag plus rhBMP-2, there was a surprising strong up-regulation of pp38 levels. Implantation of rhBMP-2-coated beads near metacarpal elements in cultured forelimb explants induced formation of ectopic cartilage that however, was counteracted by HhAntag co-treatment. Collectively, our data indicate that HhAntag inhibits not only hedgehog signaling, but also modulates canonical and non-canonical BMP signaling and blocks basal and rhBMP2-stimulated chondrogenesis, thus representing a potentially powerful drug-based strategy to counter ectopic cartilage growth or induce its involution., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Hereditary multiple exostoses is a pediatric skeletal disorder characterized by benign cartilaginous tumors called exostoses that form next to growing skeletal elements. Hereditary multiple exostoses patients carry heterozygous mutations in the heparan sulfate (HS)-synthesizing enzymes EXT1 or EXT2, but studies suggest that EXT haploinsufficiency and ensuing partial HS deficiency are insufficient for exostosis formation. Searching for additional pathways, we analyzed presence and distribution of heparanase in human exostoses. Heparanase was readily detectable in most chondrocytes, particularly in cell clusters. In control growth plates from unaffected persons, however, heparanase was detectable only in hypertrophic zone. Treatment of mouse embryo limb mesenchymal micromass cultures with exogenous heparanase greatly stimulated chondrogenesis and bone morphogenetic protein signaling as revealed by Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation. It also stimulated cell migration and proliferation. Interfering with HS function both with the chemical antagonist Surfen or treatment with bacterial heparitinase up-regulated endogenous heparanase gene expression, suggesting a counterintuitive feedback mechanism that would result in further HS reduction and increased signaling. Thus, we tested a potent heparanase inhibitor (SST0001), which strongly inhibited chondrogenesis. Our data clearly indicate that heparanase is able to stimulate chondrogenesis, bone morphogenetic protein signaling, cell migration, and cell proliferation in chondrogenic cells. These properties may allow heparanase to play a role in exostosis genesis and pathogenesis, thus making it a conceivable therapeutic target in hereditary multiple exostoses., (Copyright © 2015 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME) is an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by benign cartilage tumors (exostoses) forming near the growth plates, leading to severe health problems. EXT1 and EXT2 are the two genes known to harbor heterozygous loss-of-function mutations that account for the vast majority of the primary genetic component of HME. However, patients present with wide clinical heterogeneity, suggesting that modifier genes play a role in determining severity. Our previous work has pointed to an imbalance of β-catenin signaling being involved in the pathogenesis of osteochondroma formation. TCF7L2 is one of the key 'gate-keeper' TCF family members for Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, and TCF7L2 and EXT2 are among the earliest associated loci reported in genome wide appraisals of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus we investigated if the key T allele of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7903146 within the TCF7L2 locus, which is strongly over-represented among T2D cases, was also associated with HME. We leveraged genotype data available from ongoing GWAS efforts from genomics and orthopedic centers in the US, Canada and Italy. Collectively 213 cases and 1890 controls were analyzed and, surprisingly, the T allele was in fact significantly under-represented in the HME patient group [P = 0.009; odds ratio = 0.737 (95% C.I. 0.587-0.926)]; in addition, the direction of effect was consistent within each individual cohort. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that TCF7L2 is differentially expressed and distributed in normal human growth plate zones, and exhibits substantial variability in human exostoses in terms of staining intensity and distribution. In summary, the data indicate that there is a putative genetic connection between TCF7L2 and EXT in the context of HME. Given this observation, we suggest that these loci could possibly modulate shared pathways, in particular with respect to β-catenin, and their respective variants interplay to influence HME pathogenesis as well as T2D., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Long bones are integral components of the limb skeleton. Recent studies have indicated that embryonic long bone development is altered by mutations in Ext genes and consequent heparan sulfate (HS) deficiency, possibly due to changes in activity and distribution of HS-binding/growth plate-associated signaling proteins. Here we asked whether Ext function is continuously required after birth to sustain growth plate function and long bone growth and organization. Compound transgenic Ext1(f/f);Col2CreERT mice were injected with tamoxifen at postnatal day 5 (P5) to ablate Ext1 in cartilage and monitored over time. The Ext1-deficient mice exhibited growth retardation already by 2weeks post-injection, as did their long bones. Mutant growth plates displayed a severe disorganization of chondrocyte columnar organization, a shortened hypertrophic zone with low expression of collagen X and MMP-13, and reduced primary spongiosa accompanied, however, by increased numbers of TRAP-positive osteoclasts at the chondro-osseous border. The mutant epiphyses were abnormal as well. Formation of a secondary ossification center was significantly delayed but interestingly, hypertrophic-like chondrocytes emerged within articular cartilage, similar to those often seen in osteoarthritic joints. Indeed, the cells displayed a large size and round shape, expressed collagen X and MMP-13 and were surrounded by an abundant Perlecan-rich pericellular matrix not seen in control articular chondrocytes. In addition, ectopic cartilaginous outgrowths developed on the lateral side of mutant growth plates over time that resembled exostotic characteristic of children with Hereditary Multiple Exostoses, a syndrome caused by Ext mutations and HS deficiency. In sum, the data do show that Ext1 is continuously required for postnatal growth and organization of long bones as well as their adjacent joints. Ext1 deficiency elicits defects that can occur in human skeletal conditions including trabecular bone loss, osteoarthritis and HME., (© 2013.)

Heparan sulfate (HS) is an essential component of cell surface and matrix-associated proteoglycans. Due to their sulfation patterns, the HS chains interact with numerous signaling proteins and regulate their distribution and activity on target cells. Many of these proteins, including bone morphogenetic protein family members, are expressed in the growth plate of developing skeletal elements, and several skeletal phenotypes are caused by mutations in those proteins as well as in HS-synthesizing and modifying enzymes. The disease we discuss here is hereditary multiple exostoses (HME), a disorder caused by mutations in HS synthesizing enzymes EXT1 and EXT2, leading to HS deficiency. The exostoses are benign cartilaginous-bony outgrowths, form next to growth plates, can cause growth retardation and deformities, chronic pain and impaired motion, and progress to malignancy in 2-5% of patients. We describe recent advancements on HME pathogenesis and exostosis formation deriving from studies that have determined distribution, activities and roles of signaling proteins in wild-type and HS-deficient cells and tissues. Aberrant distribution of signaling factors combined with aberrant responsiveness of target cells to those same factors appear to be a major culprit in exostosis formation. Insights from these studies suggest plausible and cogent ideas about how HME could be treated in the future., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

During limb skeletogenesis the cartilaginous long bone anlagen and their growth plates become delimited by perichondrium with which they interact functionally. Yet, little is known about how, despite being so intimately associated with cartilage, perichondrium acquires and maintains its distinct phenotype and exerts its border function. Because perichondrium becomes deranged and interrupted by cartilaginous outgrowths in Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME), a pediatric disorder caused by EXT mutations and consequent heparan sulfate (HS) deficiency, we asked whether EXT genes and HS normally have roles in establishing its phenotype and function. Indeed, conditional Ext1 ablation in perichondrium and lateral chondrocytes flanking the epiphyseal region of mouse embryo long bone anlagen - a region encompassing the groove of Ranvier - caused ectopic cartilage formation. A similar response was observed when HS function was disrupted in long bone anlagen explants by genetic, pharmacological or enzymatic means, a response preceded by ectopic BMP signaling within perichondrium. These treatments also triggered excess chondrogenesis and cartilage nodule formation and overexpression of chondrogenic and matrix genes in limb bud mesenchymal cells in micromass culture. Interestingly, the treatments disrupted the peripheral definition and border of the cartilage nodules in such a way that many nodules overgrew and fused with each other into large amorphous cartilaginous masses. Interference with HS function reduced the physical association and interactions of BMP2 with HS and increased the cell responsiveness to endogenous and exogenous BMP proteins. In sum, Ext genes and HS are needed to establish and maintain perichondrium's phenotype and border function, restrain pro-chondrogenic signaling proteins including BMPs, and restrict chondrogenesis. Alterations in these mechanisms may contribute to exostosis formation in HME, particularly at the expense of regions rich in progenitor cells including the groove of Ranvier., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Osteochondromas and enchondromas are the most common tumors affecting the skeleton. Osteochondromas can occur as multiple lesions, such as those in patients with hereditary multiple exostoses. Unexpectedly, while studying the role of β-catenin in cartilage development, we found that its conditional deletion induces ectopic chondroma-like cartilage formation in mice. Postnatal ablation of β-catenin in cartilage induced lateral outgrowth of the growth plate within 2 weeks after ablation. The chondroma-like masses were present in the flanking periosteum by 5 weeks and persisted for more than 6 months after β-catenin ablation. These long-lasting ectopic masses rarely contained apoptotic cells. In good correlation, transplants of β-catenin-deficient chondrocytes into athymic mice persisted for a longer period of time and resisted replacement by bone compared to control wild-type chondrocytes. In contrast, a β-catenin signaling stimulator increased cell death in control chondrocytes. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the amount of detectable β-catenin in cartilage cells of osteochondromas obtained from hereditary multiple exostoses patients was much lower than that in hypertrophic chondrocytes in normal human growth plates. The findings in our study indicate that loss of β-catenin expression in chondrocytes induces periosteal chondroma-like masses and may be linked to, and cause, the persistence of cartilage caps in osteochondromas., (Copyright © 2013 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Multiple hereditary exostoses is an autosomal dominant skeletal disorder characterized by wide variation in clinical phenotype. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the severity of the disease is linked with a specific genetic background., Methods: Five hundred and twenty-nine patients with multiple hereditary exostoses from two different European referral centers participated in the study. According to a new clinical classification based on the presence or absence of deformities and functional limitations, the phenotype of the patients was assessed as mild (the absence of both aspects), intermediate, or severe (the concurrent presence of both aspects). An identical molecular screening protocol with denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification was performed in both institutions., Results: In our cohort of patients, variables such as female sex (odds ratio = 1.840; 95% confidence interval, 1.223 to 2.766), fewer than five skeletal sites with exostoses (odds ratio = 7.588; 95% confidence interval, 3.479 to 16.553), EXT2 mutations (odds ratio = 2.652; 95% confidence interval, 1.665 to 4.223), and absence of EXT1/2 mutations (odds ratio = 1.975; 95% confidence interval, 1.051 to 3.713) described patients with a mild phenotype; in contrast, a severe phenotype was associated with male sex (odds ratio = 2.431; 95% confidence interval, 1.544 to 3.826), EXT1 mutations (odds ratio = 6.817; 95% confidence interval, 1.003 to 46.348), and more than twenty affected skeletal sites (odds ratio = 2.413; 95% confidence interval, 1.144 to 5.091). Malignant transformation was observed in 5% of patients, and no evidence of association between chondrosarcoma onset and EXT mutation, sex, severity of disease, or number of lesions was detected., Conclusions: The identified "protective" and "risk" factors, as well as the proposed classification system, represent helpful tools for clinical management and follow-up of patients with multiple hereditary exostoses; moreover, homogeneous cohorts of patients, useful for studies on the pathogenesis of multiple hereditary exostoses, have been identified.