α1B-Adrenergic receptor signaling controls circadian expression of Tnfrsf11b by regulating clock genes in osteoblasts

Circadian clocks are endogenous and biological oscillations that occur with a period of <24 h. In mammals, the central circadian pacemaker is localized in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and is linked to peripheral tissues through neural and hormonal signals. In the present study, we investigated the physiological function of the molecular clock on bone remodeling. The results of loss-of-function and gain-of-function experiments both indicated that the rhythmic expression of Tnfrsf11b, which encodes osteoprotegerin (OPG), was regulated by Bmal1 in MC3T3-E1 cells. We also showed that REV-ERBα negatively regulated Tnfrsf11b as well as Bmal1 in MC3T3-E1 cells. We systematically investigated the relationship between the sympathetic nervous system and the circadian clock in osteoblasts. The administration of phenylephrine, a nonspecific α1-adrenergic receptor (AR) agonist, stimulated the expression of Tnfrsf11b, whereas the genetic ablation of α1B-AR signaling led to the alteration of Tnfrsf11b expression concomitant with Bmal1 and Per2 in bone. Thus, this study demonstrated that the circadian regulation of Tnfrsf11b was regulated by the clock genes encoding REV-ERBα (Nr1d1) and Bmal1 (Bmal1, also known as Arntl), which are components of the core loop of the circadian clock in osteoblasts.