Osteoporosis and osteopenia are major health issues that mainly affect elderly people,women after menopause and immobilized patients.Our previous studies have proved that sclerostin antibody(Scl-Ab)can dramatically en...Osteoporosis and osteopenia are major health issues that mainly affect elderly people,women after menopause and immobilized patients.Our previous studies have proved that sclerostin antibody(Scl-Ab)can dramatically enhance bone formation and reduce bone resorption in a severe osteoporosis rat model with the combination of ovariectomy(OVX)and hindlimb immobilization(HLS).However,the mechanism in the cellular level is unclear.The objective of this study is to assess the effect of Scl-Ab on osteocytic morphology change in a combined OVX and HLS rat model via quantification of long-and short-axis and the ratio and osteocyte volume in midshaft cortical bone.Four-month-old virgin female SD rats were divided into 7 groups(n=11 per group):Sham+Veh,Sham+HLS+Veh,Sham+HLS+Scl-Ab,OVX+Veh,OVX+Scl-Ab,OVX+HLS+Veh,OVX+HLS+Scl-Ab.HLS was performed 2 weeks after sham or OVX surgery;and treatment was initiated at the time of HLS.Scl-Ab(25 mg/kg)or vehicle was subcutaneously injected twice per week for 5 weeks.Femurs were harvested at the end of study and embedded in PMMA and polished for SEM imaging.Cortical bone mid shaft osteocyte number per bone area was quantified under 1K magnification;the ratios between long axis and short axis of osteocytes were quantified under 2K magnification;osteocyte dendrite number and surface area were quantified under 5K magnification.Osteocyte dendrites width was quantified using 10K magnification.All the quantification was done by ImageJ.We have reported that multiple morphological and structural changes in osteocytes,including a decreased osteocyte density and reduced osteocyte dendrite number in HLS,OVX or the combination group and Scl-Ab’s ability to abolish these unfavorable alterations.We continued our SEM analysis on osteocytes and discovered that the oval shape of osteocyte under HLS,OVX or HLS+OVX has been distorted toward a spindle-like shape,with relatively longer long axis and shorter short axis,assuming osteocyte has a perfect spheroid shape.The ratio between long-and short-axis showed an increased trend in OVX and HLS condition,but Scl-Ab inhibited these increases(P<0.001,P<0.01,respectively).The volume decreased in HLS,OVX group,but Scl-Ab maintained osteocytes’volume in HLS condition(P<0.001).It indicates that cortical bone responds to HLS and/or OVX and Scl-Ab treatment via multiple cellular mechanisms,including density of osteocyte,dendrite number and osteocyte shape.The change of osteocyte shape may imply an altered cytoskeleton system within osteocyte and a subsequent disruption of mechanosensing ability for osteocyte,which lead to bone loss macroscopically.These data suggest Scl-Ab’s therapeutic potential could be related with its ability to maintain osteocyte’s morphologic and structural changes induced by OVX,HLS or both.展开更多
文摘Osteoporosis and osteopenia are major health issues that mainly affect elderly people,women after menopause and immobilized patients.Our previous studies have proved that sclerostin antibody(Scl-Ab)can dramatically enhance bone formation and reduce bone resorption in a severe osteoporosis rat model with the combination of ovariectomy(OVX)and hindlimb immobilization(HLS).However,the mechanism in the cellular level is unclear.The objective of this study is to assess the effect of Scl-Ab on osteocytic morphology change in a combined OVX and HLS rat model via quantification of long-and short-axis and the ratio and osteocyte volume in midshaft cortical bone.Four-month-old virgin female SD rats were divided into 7 groups(n=11 per group):Sham+Veh,Sham+HLS+Veh,Sham+HLS+Scl-Ab,OVX+Veh,OVX+Scl-Ab,OVX+HLS+Veh,OVX+HLS+Scl-Ab.HLS was performed 2 weeks after sham or OVX surgery;and treatment was initiated at the time of HLS.Scl-Ab(25 mg/kg)or vehicle was subcutaneously injected twice per week for 5 weeks.Femurs were harvested at the end of study and embedded in PMMA and polished for SEM imaging.Cortical bone mid shaft osteocyte number per bone area was quantified under 1K magnification;the ratios between long axis and short axis of osteocytes were quantified under 2K magnification;osteocyte dendrite number and surface area were quantified under 5K magnification.Osteocyte dendrites width was quantified using 10K magnification.All the quantification was done by ImageJ.We have reported that multiple morphological and structural changes in osteocytes,including a decreased osteocyte density and reduced osteocyte dendrite number in HLS,OVX or the combination group and Scl-Ab’s ability to abolish these unfavorable alterations.We continued our SEM analysis on osteocytes and discovered that the oval shape of osteocyte under HLS,OVX or HLS+OVX has been distorted toward a spindle-like shape,with relatively longer long axis and shorter short axis,assuming osteocyte has a perfect spheroid shape.The ratio between long-and short-axis showed an increased trend in OVX and HLS condition,but Scl-Ab inhibited these increases(P<0.001,P<0.01,respectively).The volume decreased in HLS,OVX group,but Scl-Ab maintained osteocytes’volume in HLS condition(P<0.001).It indicates that cortical bone responds to HLS and/or OVX and Scl-Ab treatment via multiple cellular mechanisms,including density of osteocyte,dendrite number and osteocyte shape.The change of osteocyte shape may imply an altered cytoskeleton system within osteocyte and a subsequent disruption of mechanosensing ability for osteocyte,which lead to bone loss macroscopically.These data suggest Scl-Ab’s therapeutic potential could be related with its ability to maintain osteocyte’s morphologic and structural changes induced by OVX,HLS or both.
