Wnt3a regulates tumor necrosis factor-α-stimulated interleukin-6 release in osteoblasts

It is recognized that Wnt pathways regulate bone metabolism. We have previously shown that tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) stimulates synthesis of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a potent bone resorptive agent, via p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase)/Akt in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Wnt3a on TNF-α-stimulated IL-6 synthesis in these cells. Wnt3a, which alone did not affect the IL-6 levels, significantly suppressed the TNF-α-stimulated IL-6 release. Lithium Chloride (LiCl), which is an inhibitor of GSK3β, markedly reduced the TNF-α-stimulated IL-6 release, similar to the results with Wnt3a. The suppression by Wnt3a or LiCl was also observed in the intracellular protein levels of IL-6 elicited by TNF-α. Wnt3a failed to affect the TNF-α-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 MAP kinase, Akt, IκB or NFκB. Either Wnt3a or LiCl failed to reduce, rather increased the IL-6 mRNA expression stimulated by TNF-α. Lactacystin, a proteasome inhibitor, and bafilomycin A1, a lysosomal protease inhibitor, significantly restored the suppressive effect of Wnt3a on TNF-α-stimulated IL-6 release. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that Wnt3a regulates IL-6 release stimulated by TNF-α at post-transcriptional level in osteoblasts.