Authors
Naga Suresh Adapal1, Mary F. Barbe, Alexander Tsygankov, Joseph Lorenzo, Archana Sanjay
Abstract
Cbl family proteins, Cbl and Cbl-b, are E3 ubiquitin ligases and adaptor proteins, which play important roles in bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Loss of Cbl in mice decreases osteoclast migration, resulting in delayed bone development where as absence of Cbl-b decreases bone volume due to hyper-resorptive osteoclasts. A major structural difference between Cbl and Cbl-b is tyrosine 737 (in YEAM motif) only on Cbl, which upon phosphorylation interacts with p85 subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3 Kinase (PI3K). In contrast to Cbl-/- and Cbl-b-/-, mice lacking Cbl-PI3K interaction due to a Y737F (tyrosine to phenylalanine, YF) mutation showed enhanced osteoclast survival, but defective resorption. To investigate whether Cbl-PI3K interaction contributes to distinct roles of Cbl and Cbl-b in osteoclasts, mice bearing CblY737F mutation in the Cbl-b-/- background (YF/YF;Cbl-b-/-) were generated. The differentiation and survival were augmented similarly in YF/YF and YF/YF;Cbl-b-/- osteoclasts, associated with enhanced PI3K signaling suggesting an exclusive role of Cbl-PI3K interaction, independent of Cbl-b. In addition to PI3K, the small GTPase Ras also regulates osteoclast survival. In the absence of Cbl-PI3K interaction, increased Ras GTPase activity and Ras-PI3K binding were observed and inhibition of Ras activation attenuated PI3K mediated osteoclast survival. In contrast to differentiation and survival, increased osteoclast activity observed in Cbl-b-/- mice persisted even after introduction of the resorption-defective YF mutation in YF/YF;Cbl-b-/- mice. Hence, Cbl and Cbl-b play mutually exclusive roles in osteoclasts. Whereas Cbl-PI3K interaction regulates differentiation and survival, bone resorption is predominantly regulated by Cbl-b in osteoclasts.