Osteoblasts express types I and II activin receptors during early intramembranous and endochondral bone formation.

Increasing evidence suggests a potential role for activin in bone formation. However, the cognate receptors through which activins function with respect to skeletal tissues have not yet been identified. Identification and regulation of expression of these receptors are necessary prerequisites to understanding the role of activins in bone metabolism. We detected mRNAs for three activin receptors, type I (ActRI), type II (ActRII), and type IIB (ActRIIB), in multiple skeletal tissues in rat, including tibia and costochondral growth plate, and also in cultured osteoblasts. To gain information about the relationship between receptor expression and different skeletal cell functions, we evaluated expression of the three receptors in a semiquantitative manner during the early stages of fracture healing, a model for rapid bone formation. Relatively high levels of ActRI and ActRII expression were detected in the callus at 7, 10, and 14 days after fracture, times that correlate with the interval of rapid intramembranous bone formation and the initiation of endochondral bone formation. Expression of the ActRIIB in the fracture callus was strikingly lower than either ActRI or ActRII. Immunostaining of the fracture callus and the newborn rat femur with an anti-ActRII antibody localized the receptor to osteoblasts at regions of membranous and endochondral bone formation. No staining of osteoblasts in fracture callus or bone was seen with an anti-ActRIIB antibody. These results provide strong evidence of the identification of the principal receptors through which activins could function in the skeletal system and further shed light on activin's mechanism of action in bone formation.