The interleukin-6/soluble interleukin-6 receptor system induces parathyroid hormone-related protein in human osteoblastic cells.

In the present in vitro study, we tested the hypothesis that parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) might be a mediator of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and its soluble receptor (IL-6sR) in osteoblasts. We found that IL-6, within 1-20 ng/mL, added together with IL-6sR (100 ng/mL), rapidly (1 hour) increased PTHrP mRNA in human osteoblastic osteosarcoma MG-63 cells and human osteoblastic (hOB) cells from trabecular bone. PD098059, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase inhibitor, at 10 microM, and two inhibitors of protein prenylation and thus Ras activation, simvastatin (1 microM) and a farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitor (100 nM), but not the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor wortmannin, blocked the IL-6/IL-6sR-induced PTHrP expression in these cells. In addition, PD098059 as well as simvastatin and the FTase inhibitor abolished alkaline phosphatase activity and/or osteocalcin mRNA induction by the IL-6/IL-6sR in these cells. Our results support the role of the Ras/MAPK pathway as a major mechanism in the modulation of both PTHrP expression and differentiation in human osteoblasts.