Wnt signaling and orthopedics, an overview

Wnt signaling is a ubiquitous system for intercellular communication, with multiple functions during development and in homeostasis of the body. It comprises several ligands, receptors, and inhibitors. Some molecules, such as sclerostin, appear to have bone-specific functions, and can be targeted by potential drugs. Now, ongoing clinical trials are testing these drugs as treatments for osteoporosis. Animal studies have also suggested that these drugs can accelerate fracture healing and implant fixation. This brief overview focuses on currently available information on the effects of manipulations of Wnt signaling on bone healing

Wnt signaling and metaphyseal bone healing

This thesis relates to some new aspects on the regulation of bone healing. In the last few years, Wnt-signaling has been shown to play a central role in bone biology. As well as being involved in bone maintenance and repair, Wnt-signaling has been presented as one of the key pathways through which bone responds to mechanical load. Two secreted extracellular inhibitors of Wnt-signaling, sclerostin and dickkopf-1 are potent negative regulators of bone formation. Using a rat fracture model we investigated how metaphyseal bone healing is influenced by changes in Wnt-signaling. Antibodies were used to suppress levels of sclerostin and dickkopf-1, and thereby increase Wnt-signaling. Primarily, we investigated if those antibody treatments lead to improved bone healing. Also, we investigated if the response was coupled to the loading conditions of the bone. Our findings suggest that suppression of either sclerostin or dickkopf-1 leads to increased bone formation and improved bone healing. Apart from just having an effect on healing, the treatment also improved bone formation in other parts of the skeleton. Depending on the loading conditions, the effects were different. Dickkopf-1 appeared to have a stronger effect on bone volume density in unloaded bone, implying a role mainly in mechano-transduction, while sclerostin had similar effect in both loaded and unloaded bone. To confirm these findings, we studied how the expression of several Wnt-related genes changed due to trauma and unloading in metaphyseal bone. We found that trauma led to upregulation of most of the genes with the largest effect seen in the unloaded bone. In untraumatized bone, there was mainly an effect on the sclerostin gene. In conclusion, antibodies against sclerostin and dickkopf-1 appear to be able to improve metaphyseal bone healing. There appear to be some differences in how the effect of the two antibodies manifests itself, especially if the loading conditions of the bone are altered. These findings suggest a potential for clinical use to shorten fracture healing time

The effects of Dickkopf-1 antibody on metaphyseal bone and implant fixation under different loading conditions

The secreted protein Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1) is an antagonist of canonical Wnt signaling, expressed during fracture healing. It is unclear how it is involved in the mechanical control of bone maintenance. We investigated the response to administration of a Dkk1 neutralizing antibody (Dkk1-ab) in metaphyseal bone under different loading conditions, with or without trauma. In this three part experiment, 120 rats had a screw or bone chamber inserted either unilaterally or bilaterally in the proximal tibia. Mechanical (pull-out) testing, mu CT and histology were used for evaluation. The animals were injected with either 10 mg/kg Dkk1-ab or saline every 14 days for 14, 28, or 42 days. Antibody treatment increased bone formation around the screws and improved their fixation. After 28 days, the pull-out force was increased by over 100%. In cancellous bone, the bone volume fraction was increased by 50%. In some animals, one hind limb was paralyzed with Botulinum toxin A (Botox) to create a mechanically unloaded environment. This did not increase the response to antibody treatment with regard to screw fixation, but in cancellous bone, the bone volume fraction increased by 233%. Thus, the response in unloaded, untraumatized bone was proportionally larger, suggesting that Dkk1 may be up-regulated in unloaded bone. There was also an increase in thickness of the metaphyseal cortex. In bone chambers, the antibody treatment increased the bone volume fraction. The results suggest that antibodies blocking Dkk1 might be used to stimulate bone formation especially during implant fixation, fracture repair, or bone disuse. It also seems that Dkk1 is up-regulated both after metaphyseal trauma and after unloading, and that Dkk1 is involved in mechano-transduction.Original Publication:Fredrik Agholme, Hanna Isaksson, Stuart Kuhstoss and Per Aspenberg, The effects of Dickkopf-1 antibody on metaphyseal bone and implant fixation under different loading conditions, 2011, BONE, (48), 5, 988-996.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2011.02.008Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam.http://www.elsevier.com

Surface immobilized zoledronate improves screw fixation in rat bone: A new method for the coating of metal implants

Previous studies show that surface immobilized bisphosphonates improve the fixation of stainless steel screws in rat tibia after 2-8 weeks of implantation. We report here about the immobilization of a potent bisphosphonate, zoledronate, to crosslinked fibrinogen by the use of another technique, i.e. ethyl-dimethyl-aminopropylcarbodiimide (EDC)/imidazole immobilization. Bone fixation of zoledronate-coated screws was compared to screws coated with crosslinked fibrinogen only and ditto with EDC/N-hydroxy-succinimide immobilized pamidronate. Fixation in rat tibia was evaluated by a pull-out test at either 2 or 6 weeks after implantation. Both bisphosphonate coatings increased the pull-out force at both time points, and zoledronate showed a significantly higher pull-out force than pamidronate. To further evaluate the new coating technique we also performed a morphometric study, focusing on the area surrounding the implant. The zoledronate coating resulted in an increased bone density around the screws compared to controls. No pronounced increase was seen around the pamidronate coated screws. Together, the results demonstrate the possibility of obtaining a significant local therapeutic effect with minute amounts of surface immobilized zoledronate.The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com:Therese Andersson, Fredrik Agholme, Per Aspenberg and Pentti Tengvall, Surface immobilized zoledronate improves screw fixation in rat bone: A new method for the coating of metal implants, 2010, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN MEDICINE, (21), 11, 3029-3037.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10856-010-4154-xCopyright: Springer Science Business Mediahttp://www.springerlink.com

Targeting RANKL for reduction of bone loss around unstable implants: OPG-Fc compared to alendronate in a model for mechanically induced loosening

Orthopedic joint prostheses may loosen because of localized bone resorption. Despite initial optimism, there are no reports showing that bisphosphonates can stop the progression of prosthetic loosening once it has begun. This might be due to the strong resorptive stimulus, which continuously recruits new osteoclasts. Therefore, we hypothesized that a treatment targeting osteoclast recruitment would be more efficacious than a treatment reducing osteoclast activity. We used a previously described rat model for instability-induced bone resorption, and compared OPG-Fc with alendronate at a clinically relevant or an extreme dose. A titanium plate was osseointegrated at the rat tibial surface. Instability was simulated by a piston, moving perpendicularly to the bone surface. Piston movement induced bone loss via hydrostatic pressure or fluid flow. Rats were randomized to 5 groups (total n = 56), of which 4 were subjected to instability and one was stable. The unstable groups were injected with either high-dose OPG-Fc (10 mg/kg, twice weekly), a high dose of alendronate (20 mu g /kg/day), an extreme dose of alendronate (200 mu g/kg/day) or saline. Significant protection against resorption could only be shown for OPG-Fc and the extreme alendronate dose. Both alendronate doses reduced serum levels of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase isoform 5b to a similar extent, demonstrating that the lower dose was able to reduce resorption in the normally remodeling skeleton, although not in the osteolytic lesions caused by instability. Osteoclast numbers in the lesion were increased by the lower bisphosphonate dose and reduced by OPG-Fc. The results suggest the possibility of targeting osteoclast recruitment via the RANKL system in patients with impending prosthetic loosening

Original Publication:

Targeting RANKL for reduction of bone loss around unstable implants: OPG-Fc compared to alendronate in a model for mechanically induced loosening Per Aspenberg and Anna Fahlgren N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original article

Efficacy of a Sclerostin Antibody Compared to a Low Dose of PTH on Metaphyseal Bone Healing

We compared the effect of a sclerostin antibody to that of a clinically relevant dose of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in a rat model for metaphyseal bone healing. Screws of steel or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) were inserted bilaterally into the proximal tibia of young male rats. During 4 weeks the animals then received injections of either phosphate buffered saline (control), sclerostin antibody (25mg/kg, twice weekly) or PTH (5 mu g/kg, daily). The healing response around the screws was then assessed by mechanical testing and X-ray microtomography (mu CT). To distinguish between effects on healing and general effects on the skeleton, other untraumatized bone sites and serum biomarkers were also assessed. After 4 weeks of treatment, PTH yielded a 48% increase in screw pull-out force compared to control (p=0.03), while the antibody had no significant effect. In contrast, the antibody increased femoral cortical and vertebral strength where PTH had no significant effect. mu CT showed only slight changes that were statistically significant for the antibody mainly at cortical sites. The results suggest that a relatively low dose of PTH stimulates metaphyseal repair (screw fixation) specifically, whereas the sclerostin antibody has wide-spread effects, mainly on cortical bone, with less influence on metaphyseal healing