Brain neuron-derived WDFY1 induces bone loss.

Chun-Yuan Chen, Zun Wang, Chun-Gu Hong, Yi-Juan Tan, Yan-Xin Duan, Yi Luo, Xin Wang, Hai-Jin Zeng, Jing-Yao Luo, Teng-Fei Wan, Hao Yin, Xi-Xi Liu, Hao Zhu, Yong Zhou, Zheng-Guang Wang, Ze-Hui He, Xin-Yue Hu, Guo-Wen Hu, Hai-Li Lang, Zhen-Xing Wang, Jia Cao, Shan-Shan Rao, Hui Xie

Department of Orthopedics, Movement System Injury and Repair Research Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China. [email protected] of Orthopedics, Movement System Injury and Repair Research Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China. [email protected]. · pubmed

Paper

Abstract

Brain health is closely linked to bone homeostasis. Skeletal aging is characterized by inadequate bone formation and marrow adiposity, but whether the brain contributes to this imbalance remains unknown. This study shows that aged brain neurons, mainly those in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, produce excess WD repeat and FYVE domain containing 1 (WDFY1) protein and transfer it to the bone via extracellular vesicles (EVs), leading to bone-fat imbalance and osteoporosis. Increasing brain Wdfy1 expression causes premature skeletal aging. Conversely, suppressing Wdfy1 in the whole brain, hippocampus or neurons, genetically deleting neuronal Wdfy1, and selectively inhibiting neuronal EV release all improve bone health. Mechanistically, WDFY1 binds to the retromer complex to promote the endosome-to-Golgi recycling of cathepsin D and peroxiredoxin 2, thus inhibiting osteogenesis and augmenting adipogenesis. This study identifies the role of aged brain neuronal EVs as an important messenger in triggering bone-fat imbalance by transferring WDFY1 to bone.

The following analysis is generated by AI and may contain errors. It is separate from the authors’ abstract and is not peer review.

Research summary

Aged brain neurons produce excess WDFY1, which is transferred to bone and leads to osteoporosis. This study is relevant as it explores the connection between brain health and bone homeostasis, addressing a potential root cause of age-related bone loss.

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