Letters to Nature
Nature 416, 744-749 (18 April 2002) | doi:10.1038/416744a; Received 27 November 2001; Accepted 21 January 2002
RANKL maintains bone homeostasis through c-Fos-dependent induction of interferon-
Hiroshi Takayanagi1, Sunhwa Kim1, Koichi Matsuo2,3, Hiroshi Suzuki1, Tomohiko Suzuki4, Kojiro Sato1, Taeko Yokochi1, Hiromi Oda5, Kozo Nakamura5, Nobutaka Ida4, Erwin F. Wagner2 and Tadatsugu Taniguchi1
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Dr. Bohr Gasse 7, A-1030 Vienna, Austria
- National Institute for Longevity Sciences (NILS), Obu, Aichi 474-8522, Japan
- Pharmaceutical Research Laboratories, Toray Industries, Inc., Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-8555, Japan
Correspondence to: Tadatsugu Taniguchi1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to T.T. (e-mail: Email: tada@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp).
Osteoclasts are cells of monocyte/macrophage origin that erode bone matrix: regulation of their differentiation is central to the understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of bone diseases such as osteoporosis1, 2. Signalling by RANKL (receptor activator of NF-
B ligand), also known as Tnfsf11, is essential for the induction of osteoclast differentiation3, 4, 5, and it must be strictly regulated to maintain bone homeostasis. But it is not known whether RANKL signalling to the cell interior is linked to any regulatory mechanisms. Here we show that RANKL induces the interferon-
(IFN-) gene in osteoclast precursor cells, and that IFN-
inhibits the differentiation by interfering with the RANKL-induced expression of c-Fos, an essential transcription factor for the formation of osteoclasts. This IFN- gene induction mechanism is distinct from that induced by virus, and is dependent on c-Fos itself. Thus an autoregulatory mechanism operates—the RANKL-induced c-Fos induces its own inhibitor. The importance of this regulatory mechanism for bone homeostasis is emphasized by the observation that mice deficient in IFN- signalling exhibit severe osteopenia (loss of bone mass) accompanied by enhanced osteoclastogenesis. Our study places the IFN- system in a new context, and may offer a molecular basis for the treatment of bone diseases.