ER Stress During the Pubertal Growth Spurt Results in Impaired Long-Bone Growth in Chondrocyte-Specific ERp57 Knockout Mice.

Long-bone growth by endochondral ossification is cooperatively accomplished by chondrocyte proliferation, hypertrophic differentiation, and appropriate secretion of collagens, glycoproteins, and proteoglycans into the extracellular matrix (ECM). Before folding and entering the secretory pathway, ECM macromolecules in general are subject to extensive posttranslational modification, orchestrated by chaperone complexes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). ERp57 is a member of the protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) family and facilitates correct folding of newly synthesized glycoproteins by rearrangement of native disulfide bonds. Here, we show that ERp57-dependent PDI activity is essential for postnatal skeletal growth, especially during the pubertal growth spurt characterized by intensive matrix deposition. Loss of ERp57 in growth plates of cartilage-specific ERp57 knockout mice (ERp57 KO) results in ER stress, unfolded protein response (UPR), reduced proliferation, and accelerated apoptotic cell death of chondrocytes. Together this results in a delay of long-bone growth with the following characteristics: (1) enlarged growth plates; (2) expanded hypertrophic zones; (3) retarded osteoclast recruitment; (4) delayed remodeling of the proteoglycan-rich matrix; and (5) reduced numbers of bone trabeculae. All the growth plate and bone abnormalities, however, become attenuated after the pubertal growth spurt, when protein synthesis is decelerated and, hence, ERp57 function is less essential.

Sildenafil acts as potentiator and corrector of CFTR but might be not suitable for the treatment of CF lung disease.

The phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor sildenafil is an established and approved drug to treat symptoms of a variety of human diseases. In the context of cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease caused by a defective CFTR gene (e.g. ΔF508-CFTR), it was assumed that sildenafil could be a promising substance to correct impaired protein expression. This study focuses on the molecular mechanisms of sildenafil on CFTR recovery. We used ΔF508-CFTR/wt-CFTR expressing Xenopus laevis oocytes and human bronchial epithelial cell lines (CFBE41o(-)/16HBE14o(-)) to investigate the pathways of sildenafil action. Cells were treated with sildenafil and cAMP-mediated current (I(m)), conductance (G(m)), and capacitance (C(m)) were determined. Sildenafil increased I(m), G(m), and C(m) of wt-CFTR and functionally restored ΔF508-CFTR in oocytes. These effects were also seen in CFBE41o(-) and 16HBE14o(-) cells. Transepithelial measurements revealed that sildenafil mediated increase (wt-CFTR) and restoration (ΔF508-CFTR) of channel activity. cGMP pathway blocker inhibited the activity increase but not CFTR/ΔF508-CFTR exocytosis. From these data we conclude that sildenafil mediates potentiation of CFTR activity by a cGMP-dependent and initiates cGMP-independent functional insertion of CFTR/ΔF508-CFTR molecules into the apical membranes. Thus, sildenafil is a corrector and potentiator of CFTR/ΔF508-CFTR. Yet, the necessary high doses of the drug for CFTR recovery demonstrate that sildenafil might not be suited as a therapeutic drug for CF lung disease.