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Bone Growth and Turnover in Progesterone Receptor Knockout Mice

Mayo Clinic (D.J.R., G.E., T.E.H., K.M.W., S.K., T.C.S.), Rochester, Minnesota 55905; Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences (U.T.I., J.C.H., R.T.T.), Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; and Department of Cell Biology (J.P.L., B.W.O.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Urszula T. Iwaniec, Ph.D., Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences, 108 Milam Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331. E-mail: Urszula.Iwaniec{at}oregonstate.edu.

The role of progesterone receptor (PR) signaling in skeletal metabolism is controversial. To address whether signaling through the PR is necessary for normal bone growth and turnover, we performed histomorphometric and microcomputed tomography analyses of bone from homozygous female PR knockout (PRKO) mice at 6, 12, and 26 wk of age. These mice possess a null mutation of the PR locus, which blocks the gene expression of A and B isoforms of PR. Body weight gain, uterine weight gain, and tibia longitudinal bone growth were normal in PRKO mice. In contrast, total, cancellous, and cortical bone mass were increased in the humerus of 12-wk-old PRKO mice, whereas cortical and cancellous bone mass in the tibia was normal. At 26 wk of age, cancellous bone area in the proximal tibia metaphysis of PRKO mice was 153% greater than age matched wild-type mice. The improved cancellous bone balance in 6-month-old PRKO mice was associated with elevated bone formation and a tendency toward reduced osteoclast perimeter. Taken together, these findings suggest that PR signaling in mice is not essential for bone growth and turnover. However, at some skeletal sites, PR signaling attenuates the accumulation of cortical and cancellous bone mass during adolescence.