β-catenin mediates fluoride-induced aberrant osteoblasts activity and osteogenesis

Excess fluoride in drinking water is an environmental issue of increasing worldwide concern, because of its adverse effect on human health. Skeletal fluorosis caused by chronic exposure to excessive fluoride is a metabolic bone disease characterized by accelerated bone turnover accompanied by aberrant activation of osteoblasts. It is not clear whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling, an important signaling pathway regulating the function of osteoblasts, mediates the pathogenesis of skeletal fluorosis. A cross-sectional case-control study was conducted in Tongyu County, Jilin Province, China showed that fluoride stimulated the levels of OCN and OPG, resulting in accelerated bone turnover in patients with skeletal fluorosis. To investigate the influence of fluoride on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, 64 male BALB/c mice were allotted randomly to four groups and treated with deionized water containing 0, 55, 110 and 221 mg/L NaF for 3 months, respectively. The results demonstrated that fluoride significantly increased mouse cancellous bone formation and the protein expression of Wnt3a, phospho-GSK3β (ser 9) and Runx2. Moreover, partial correlation analysis indicated that there was no significant correlation between fluoride exposure and Runx2 protein levels, after adjusting for β-catenin, suggesting that β-catenin might play a crucial role in fluoride-induced aberrant osteogenesis. In vivo, viability of SaoS2 cells was significantly facilitated by 4 mg/L NaF, and fluoride could induce the abnormal activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, the expression of its target gene Runx2 and significantly increased Tcf/Lef reporter activity. Importantly, inhibition of β-catenin suppressed fluoride-induced Runx2 protein expression and the osteogenic phenotypes. Taken together, the present study provided in vivo and in vitro evidence reveals a potential mechanism for fluoride-induced aberrant osteoblast activation and indicates that β-catenin is the pivot molecule mediating viability and differentiation of osteoblasts and might be a therapeutic target for skeletal fluorosis.