A novel secreted glycoprotein that regulates bone resorption has been identified. The protein, termed Osteoprotegerin (OPG), is a novel member of the TNF receptor superfamily. In vivo, hepatic expression of OPG in transgenic mice results in a profound yet nonlethal osteopetrosis, coincident with a decrease in later stages of osteoclast differentiation. These same effects are observed upon administration of recombinant OPG into normal mice. In vitro, osteoclast differentiation from precursor cells is blocked in a dose-dependent manner by recombinant OPG. Furthermore, OPG blocks ovariectomy-associated bone loss in rats. These data show that OPG can act as a soluble factor in the regulation of bone mass and imply a utility for OPG in the treatment of osteoporosis associated with increased osteoclast activity.

The 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) is a major endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein that can form stable associations with a variety of proteins retained in the ER because of underglycosylation or other conformational changes. In this study, we provide evidence at the transcriptional level that a conformationally abnormal protein, an altered herpes simplex virus type 1 envelope protein that is retained in the ER of a mammalian cell line, transactivates the grp78 promoter. In contrast, the normal viral envelope glycoprotein does not elevate grp78 promoter activity. Using a series of 5' deletions, linker-scanning, and internal deletion mutations spanning a 100-bp region from -179 to -80, we correlate the cis-acting regulatory elements mediating the activation of grp78 by malfolded proteins, glycosylation block, and the calcium ionophore A23187. We show that they all act through the same control elements, suggesting that they share a common signal. We report here that the highly conserved grp element, while important for basal level and induced grp78 expression, is functionally redundant. The single most important element, by linker-scanning analysis, is a 10-bp region that contains a CCAAT motif. It alone is not sufficient for promoter activity, but a 40-bp region (-129 to -90) that contains this motif is essential for mediating basal level and stress inducibility of the grp78 promoter. We show that the transcription factor CTF/NF-I is able to transactivate the grp78 promoter through interaction with this CCAAT motif.

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The 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein GRP78 is a stress-inducible protein ubiquitously expressed in animal cells. In this paper we show that the first exon of this endoplasmic reticulum-localized protein consists of an 18 amino acid leader sequence rich in hydrophobic residues, followed by a highly acidic mature N-terminus and an 11 amino acid domain that is shared by members of the 70-kDa heat shock protein family. The end of this shared domain also marks the beginning of the first intron of this gene. A DNA region upstream of the promoter element important for induction by calcium ionophore and by a temperature-sensitive mutation was identified by deletion analysis. Our results indicate that a region spanning from 85 to 480 nucleotides upstream of the major transcription initiation site is important for both induction conditions. With evidence suggesting that perturbations in protein glycosylation may be one of the common stimuli involved in transcription activation of the GRPs, we measured the rate of glycosylation during A23187, glucose starvation, and temperature-shift induced conditions. The inverse correlation observed between the rate of glycosylation and the steady-state level of the GRP78 transcripts lends support to this hypothesis.

The gene encoding GRP78 has been shown to be constitutively expressed in many cell types and is inducible by the calcium ionophore A23187. To understand the regulation of GRP78 transcription, we analyzed the components that control its basal-level expression. By transfecting deletions into cells, we have identified a 54-nucleotide cis-acting regulatory element important for high basal-level expression and a contiguous 50-nucleotide element for both basal-level expression and A23187 induction. Using DNase footprinting assays with both rat and human GRP78 promoters, we demonstrated that the protein factors present in the HeLa cell nuclear extracts bind to the regulatory regions identified by the deletion studies. This domain contains a palindromic sequence and is highly conserved among GRP genes in Caenorhabditis elegans, chicks, rats, and humans.