Parathyroid Hormone Induction of the Osteocalcin Gene

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is an important peptide hormone regulator of bone formation and osteoblast activity. However, its mechanism of action in bone cells is largely unknown. This study examined the effect of PTH on mouse osteocalcin gene expression in MC3T3-E1 preosteoblastic cells and primary cultures of bone marrow stromal cells. PTH increased the levels of osteocalcin mRNA 4–5-fold in both cell types. PTH also stimulated transcriptional activity of a 1.3-kb fragment of the mouse osteocalcin gene 2 (mOG2) promoter. Inhibitor studies revealed a requirement for protein kinase A, protein kinase C, and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in the PTH response. Deletion of the mOG2 promoter sequence from –1316 to –116 caused no loss in PTH responsiveness whereas deletion from –116 to –34 completely prevented PTH stimulation. Interestingly, this promoter region does not contain the RUNX2 binding site shown to be necessary for PTH responsiveness in other systems. Nuclear extracts from PTH-treated MC3T3-E1 cells exhibited increased binding to OSE1, a previously described osteoblast-specific enhancer in the mOG2 promoter. Furthermore, mutation of OSE1 in DNA transfection assays established the requirement for this element in the PTH response. Collectively, these studies establish that actions of PTH on the osteocalcin gene are mediated by multiple signaling pathways and require OSE1 and associated nuclear proteins.