Pth4, an ancient parathyroid hormone lost in eutherian mammals, reveals a new brain-to-bone signaling pathway.

ABSTRACT: Regulation of bone development, growth, and remodeling traditionally has been thought to depend on endocrine and autocrine/paracrine modulators. Recently, however, brain-derived signals have emerged as key regulators of bone metabolism, although their mechanisms of action have been poorly understood. We reveal the existence of an ancient parathyroid hormone (Pth)4 in zebrafish that was secondarily lost in the eutherian mammals' lineage, including humans, and that is specifically expressed in neurons of the hypothalamus and appears to be a central neural regulator of bone development and mineral homeostasis. Transgenic fish lines enabled mapping of axonal projections leading from the hypothalamus to the brainstem and spinal cord. Targeted laser ablation demonstrated an essential role for of

SUBMITTER: Suarez-Bregua P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5240660 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature