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The link between arterial calcification and low bone mass in mice



DOI:10.1038/bonekey.2014.1

Mice deficient in matrix gla protein (MGP), which inhibits mineralization of the extracellular matrix, show extensive mineralization of arteries and cartilaginous tissues, have low bone mass and are short in stature. In this study, Marulanda et al. sought to find out if and how these phenotypes are related.

When micro CT scanning and bone histomorphometry techniques were used to compare bone volume in wild-type mice vs Mgp−/− mice, it became clear that the knockout mice show a decrease in bone volume compared to tissue volume within the first three weeks of life. Osteoblast function is impaired, with primary osteoblasts showing a significant upregulation of osteocalcin, a late osteogenic marker.

Two mouse models in which arterial calcification was prevented (in one, transgenic overexpression of Mgp was achieved; in the other, mineral deposition in arterial walls was reduced by elastin haploinsufficiency) showed concurrent rescue of the low bone mass phenotype. The authors conclude that reduced bone mass in Mgp-deficient mice is a result of arterial calcification.

Editor’s comment: It will be interesting to discover whether other mouse strains that show arterial calcification also have reduced bone mass, but following up therapeutic avenues will first require confirmation that these two factors are linked in humans as well as in mice.


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