CCR3 deficiency is associated with increased osteoclast activity and reduced cortical bone volume in adult male mice.

Increasing evidence emphasizes the importance of chemokines and chemokine receptors as regulators of bone remodeling. The C-C chemokine receptor 3 (CCR3) is dramatically upregulated during osteoclastogenesis, but the role of CCR3 in osteoclast formation and bone remodeling in adult mice is unknown. Herein, we used bone marrow macrophages derived from adult male CCR3-proficient and CCR3-deficient mice to study the role of CCR3 in osteoclast formation and activity. CCR3 deficiency was associated with formation of giant hypernucleated osteoclasts, enhanced bone resorption when cultured on bone slices, and altered mRNA expression of related chemokine receptors and ligands. In addition, primary mouse calvarial osteoblasts isolated from CCR3-deficient mice showed increased mRNA expression of the osteoclast activator-related gene, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand, and osteoblast differentiation-associated genes. Microcomputed tomography analyses of femurs from CCR3-deficient mice revealed a bone phenotype that entailed less cortical thickness and volume. Consistent with our in vitro studies, the total number of osteoclasts did not differ between the genotypes in vivo. Moreover, an increased endocortical osteoid mineralization rate and higher trabecular and cortical bone formation rate was displayed in CCR3-deficient mice. Collectively, our data show that CCR3 deficiency influences osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation and that it is associated with thinner cortical bone in adult male mice.

Post-transcriptional silencing of CCR3 downregulates IL-4 stimulated release of eotaxin-3 (CCL26) and other CCR3 ligands in alveolar type II cells.

Trafficking and inflammation in airway diseases are, in part, modulated by members of the CC chemokine family, eotaxin-1 (CCL11), eotaxin-2 (CCL24), and eotaxin-3 (CCL26), which transduce signals through their CCR3 receptor. In this context, we hypothesized that transfecting alveolar type II epithelial cells with CCR3-targeted siRNA or antisense (AS-ODN) sequences will downregulate cellular synthesis and release of the primary CCR3 ligands CCL26 and CCL24 and will modulate other CCR3 ligands. The human A549 alveolar type II epithelium-like cell culture model was used for transfection and subsequent effects on CCR3 agonists. siRNAs were particularly effective. PCR showed a 60-80% decrease in mRNA and immunoblots showed up to 75-84% reduction of CCR3 in siRNA treated cells. CCR3-siRNA treatments reduced IL-4 stimulated CCL26 release and constitutive CCL24 release by 65% and 80%, respectively. Release of four additional CCR3 agonists RANTES, MCP-2, MCP-3 and MCP-4 was also significantly reduced by CCR3-siRNA treatments of the alveolar type II cells. Activation of eosinophils, assessed as superoxide anion generation, was reduced when eosinophils were treated with supernatants of A549 cells pretreated with CCR3-targeted siRNAs or AS-ODNs. Collectively, the data suggest that post-transcriptional regulation of CCR3 receptors may be a potential therapeutic approach for interrupting proinflammatory signaling.