PRIP (phospholipase C-related, but catalytically inactive protein) is a novel protein isolated in this laboratory. PRIP-deficient mice showed increased serum gonadotropins, but decreased gonadal steroid hormones. This imbalance was similar to that for the cause of bone disease, such as osteoporosis. In the present study, therefore, we analyzed mutant mice with special reference to the bone property. We first performed three-dimensional analysis of the femur of female mice. The bone mineral density and trabecular bone volume were higher in mutant mice. We further performed histomorphometrical assay of bone formation parameters: bone formation rate, mineral apposition rate, osteoid thickness, and osteoblast number were up-regulated in the mutant, indicating that increased bone mass is caused by the enhancement of bone formation ability. We then cultured primary cells isolated from calvaria prepared from both genotypes. In mutant mice, osteoblast differentiation, as assessed by alkaline phosphatase activity and the expression of osteoblast differentiation marker genes, was enhanced. Moreover, we analyzed the phosphorylation of Smad1/5/8 in response to bone morphogenetic protein, with longer phosphorylation in the mutant. These results indicate that PRIP is implicated in the negative regulation of bone formation.Phospholipase C-related, but catalytically inactive protein (PRIP) 4 was first identified as a novel D-myo-inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate-binding protein and tentatively named p130 based on molecular size (1). Subsequent molecular cloning studies revealed that the molecule is similar to phospholipase C-␦1 but is catalytically inactive, which is the reason for its revised name, and is expressed predominantly in the brain (2-5). Later, an isoform with relatively broad tissue distribution, including the brain, was reported (6, 7), indicating that PRIP is composed of types 1 and 2. PRIP has a number of binding partners, including GABARAP (␥-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA A ) receptorassociated protein) (8), protein phosphatase-1␣ (9 -11) and -2A (12), and GABA A receptor  subunits (12-14), besides Ins(1,4,5)P 3 (1-5). The finding of these binding partners led us to examine the possible involvement of PRIP in Ins(1,4,5)P 3 -mediated Ca 2ϩ signaling (15, 16) and GABA A receptor signaling (17-20), using cloned culture cells reconstituted with the gene of interest or the gene-silencing technique, and PRIP-1 alone and/or PRIP-1 and -2 gene-deficient mice were also analyzed for GABA A receptor signaling from multiple aspects, including isolated neuron cultures, electrophysiological analysis of brain slices, and behavioral analysis. So far, it is known that there is no great difference between types 1 and 2 regarding the capability of binding to partners described above, therefore, we have mainly used PRIP-1 and -2 gene-deficient mice for further analysis, but not single gene-deficient mice.During the course of mutant animal maintenance, we noticed that mutant couples exhibited decreased litter events and litter size, i...