Mechanism of action of amylin in bone

Amylin is a 37 amino acid peptide produced mainly by β‐cells of the endocrine pancreas. Human amylin has 43% homology with human calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) and 13% homology with human calcitonin (CT). Amylin and CGRP have been reported to have CT‐like hypocalcemic activity in vivo. To investigate the role of amylin in bone, we examined the mechanisms of action of human amylin, CGRP, and CT in osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Both human amylin and CGRP inhibited 1α, 25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1α, 25(OH)2D3]‐induced bone resorption in an organ culture system, and the potencies of the two peptides were similarly ∼60‐fold lower than that of human CT. Using a recently developed procedure for preparing large numbers of osteoclast‐like multinucleated cells (MNCs) formed in co‐cultures of mouse osteoblasts and bone marrow cells in the presence of 1α, 25(OH)2D3, we found that both human amylin and CGRP stimulated cAMP production in osteoclast‐like MNCs, but only at 60‐fold higher concentrations than human CT. Specific binding of [125I]‐human CT to osteoclast‐like MNCs was detected (dissociation constant, 3 × 10−8 M; binding sites, 3 × 107 per cell). To displace the bound [125I]‐human CT from osteoclast‐like MNCs, about 170‐fold higher concentrations of human amylin and CGRP were required. No specific bindings of [125I]‐CGRP to osteoclast‐like MNCs could be detected. Human CGRP stimulated cAMP production both in established mouse osteoblast‐like cells (KS‐4) and in mouse primary osteoblast‐like cells. Amylin was a weak agonist for cAMP production in KS‐4 cells. The increment in cAMP production induced by CGRP and amylin was abolished by the addition of human CGRP(8–37), a selective antagonist for CGRP receptors. CT did not stimulate cAMP production in KS‐4 cells. Amylin, but not CT, displaced the bound [125I]‐human CGRP from rat brain membranes. These results indicate that amylin binds not only to CT receptors in osteoclast‐like MNCs but also to CGRP receptors in osteoblasts. The relative potencies of these compounds to induce cAMP production was CT > amylin ≒ CGRP in osteoclast‐like MNCs and CGRP > amylin ≫ CT in osteoblast‐like cells. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.