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Angiopoietin-like 8 governs osteoblast-adipocyte lineage commitment during skeletal aging
Yaming Guo, Zeqing Zhang, Junyu He, Peiqiong Luo, Zhihan Wang, Yurong Zhu, Xiaoyu Meng, Limeng Pan, Ranran Kan, Yuxi Xiang, Beibei Mao, Yi He, Siyi Wang, Yan Yang, Fengjing Guo, Hongbo You, Feng Li, Danpei Li, Yong Chen, Xuefeng Yu
Yaming Guo, Zeqing Zhang, Junyu He, Peiqiong Luo, Zhihan Wang, Yurong Zhu, Xiaoyu Meng, Limeng Pan, Ranran Kan, Yuxi Xiang, Beibei Mao, Yi He, Siyi Wang, Yan Yang, Fengjing Guo, Hongbo You, Feng Li, Danpei Li, Yong Chen, Xuefeng Yu
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Research Article Aging Endocrinology

Angiopoietin-like 8 governs osteoblast-adipocyte lineage commitment during skeletal aging

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Abstract

A distinguishing feature of older mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from bone marrow (BM) is the transition in their differentiation capabilities from osteoblasts to adipocytes. However, the mechanisms underlying these cellular events during the aging process remain unclear. We identified angiopoietin-like protein 8 (ANGPTL8), an adipokine implicated in lipid metabolism, that influenced the fate of MSCs in BM during skeletal aging. Our studies revealed that ANGPTL8 steered MSCs toward adipogenic differentiation, overshadowing osteoblastogenesis. Mice with overexpressed ANGPTL8 exhibited reduced bone mass and increased BM adiposity, while those with transgenic depletion of ANGPTL8 showed lowered bone loss and less accumulation of BM fat. ANGPTL8 influenced the BM niche of MSCs by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Partial inhibition of PPARγ rescued some aspects of the phenotype in MSCs with ANGPTL8 overexpression. Furthermore, treatment with an Angptl8 antisense oligonucleotide improved the phenotype of aging mice. Our research suggests that ANGPTL8 is a crucial regulator of senesence-related changes in the BM niche and the cell-fate switch of MSCs.

Authors

Yaming Guo, Zeqing Zhang, Junyu He, Peiqiong Luo, Zhihan Wang, Yurong Zhu, Xiaoyu Meng, Limeng Pan, Ranran Kan, Yuxi Xiang, Beibei Mao, Yi He, Siyi Wang, Yan Yang, Fengjing Guo, Hongbo You, Feng Li, Danpei Li, Yong Chen, Xuefeng Yu

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Figure 7

Administration of a PPARγ inhibitor partially rescues the phenotype of Angptl8-Nestin-creTg mice.

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Administration of a PPARγ inhibitor partially rescues the phenotype of A...
(A) Weight of the GW9662-treated WT and Angptl8-Nestin-creTg male mice at 18 months. n = 7–8. (B) H&E staining the femur of the GW9662-treated WT and Angptl8-Nestin-creTg male mice at 18 months. Scale bars: 100 μm. (C and D) Quantification of number (C) and area (D) of adipocytes in the GW9662-treated WT and Angptl8-Nestin-creTg male mice at 18 months. n = 3. (E) Representative microCT images of distal femurs and midshaft cortical bone from the GW9662-treated WT and Angptl8-Nestin-creTg male mice at 18 months. Scale bar: 1 mm. (F–I) Quantitative microCT analyses of the distal end of the femurs from the GW9662-treated WT and Angptl8-Nestin-creTg male mice at 18 months. n = 7–8. BMD, bone mineral density; BV/TV, bone volume per tissue volume; Ct.Th, cortical bone thickness; Tb.N, trabecular number. (J) Representative osteocalcin-positive cell images of distal femurs from the GW9662-treated WT and Angptl8-Nestin-creTg male mice at 18 months. Scale bars: 50 μm. (K) Quantification of osteocalcin+ cells on the bone surface (number of osteocalcin+ cells per bone perimeter, N.Ocn+/B.Pm). Data are mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001 by 2-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple-comparison test.

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