Effect of Anti-TGF-β Treatment in a Mouse Model of Severe Osteogenesis Imperfecta

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable bone fragility disorder that is usually caused by mutations affecting collagen type I encoding genes. Recent studies in mouse models of recessive OI, Crtap^-/- mice, and dominant OI, +/G610C mice, found that application of a transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) neutralizing antibody 1D11 rescues the bone phenotype. In the present study, we investigated TGF-β signaling in a mouse model of severe dominant OI with a high incidence of spontaneous fractures, Col1a1^Jrt/+ mice, and the effect of TGF-β neutralizing antibody 1D11 on bone phenotype in 8-week-old mice. Col1a1^Jrt/+ mice had elevated TGF-β signaling in bone tissue. Treatment of Col1a1^Jrt/+ mice with 1D11 was associated with increased bone length but had no significant effect on bone mass or bone mechanical properties, and no significant treatment-associated differences in serum markers of bone formation (alkaline phosphatase activity) or resorption (tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) were found. Our data thus indicate that the TGF-β neutralizing antibody 1D11 is not effective in a mouse model of dominant OI with a high incidence of spontaneous fractures. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.