Analysis of exostoses in mice indicate signaling defects in chondrocytes give rise to ectopic growth.
Abstract 2005 MHE Conference
Beverly M. Zak†, Manuela Schuksz†, Dominique Stickens‡, Dan Wells*, & Jeffrey D. Esko†
† Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego,
9500 Gilman Drive,  La Jolla, CA, 92093-0687;   
‡ Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave.,  
San Francisco, CA 94143
* Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX  77204
Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by osteochondromas on the ends of bones 
that form by endochondral ossification.  The disease has been linked to mutations in EXT1 and EXT2, which encode subunits of 
the heparan sulfate copolymerase.  
To understand how a change in heparan sulfate biosynthesis might result in exostoses, null alleles of each gene have been 
created in mice. Homozygous null embryos arrest development at gastrulation, but heterozygous embryos appear normal, 
develop to maturity, and reproduce.  
They also exhibit occasional exostoses on the ribs and more rarely on other endochondral bones.  EXT1 and EXT2 
heterozygotes form exostoses at approximately the same frequency (14/101 and 20/120, respectively), whereas compound 
heterozygotes (EXT1+/-EXT2+/-) develop exostoses more frequently (60/165) consistent with the two genes acting through a 
common pathway.  
The exostoses arising in single and compound heterozygotes are indistinguishable by a number of criteria.
Immunohistochemical and biochemical analyses revealed reduction of heparan sulfate in affected growth plates and in cultured 
chondrocytes, leading to shorter heparan sulfate chains.  This in turn results in growth factor signaling defects in isolated 
chondrocytes.  Exostoses appear to arise in perichondrial chondrocytes based on the histology of affected ribs and the 
appearance of exostoses in mice harboring a chondrocyte-specific inactivation of EXT1.  
Thus, we propose that signaling defects specifically in chondrocytes give rise to ectopic growth.  
The actual signaling pathway altered in heterozygous EXT animals will be discussed along with other phenotypes of mice altered 
in heparan sulfate biosynthesis.
        
        
        
        
                                
          
            
              | Jeffrey D. Esko Ph.D. research 
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              | The Society for Glycobiology presented the 2007 Karl Meyer award to Dr. Esko during there annual conference. Please Click Here to read more about this award.
 
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2009 Conference abstract
Do Mutations in EXT1 or EXT2 Affect Non-Skeletal Tissues?
Jeffrey D. Esko
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093.
e-mail: jesko@ucsd.edu.
Heparan sulfate proteoglycans reside on the plasma membrane of virtually all animal cells studied to date and represent major 
components of extracellular matrices. Studies of model organisms and human diseases demonstrate their importance in 
development and normal physiology. A recurrent theme is the electrostatic interaction of the heparan sulfate chains with protein 
ligands, which affects metabolism, transport, information transfer, support and regulation in all organ systems studied to date 
(Bishop et al., 2007). The importance of these interactions is exemplified by phenotypic studies of mice and humans bearing 
mutations in the core proteins or the biosynthetic enzymes responsible for assembly of the heparan sulfate chains. Most of 
these conclusions have been based on homozygous mutations, which lead to profound alterations in heparan sulfate structure. 
Hereditary Multiple Exostoses (HME) is caused by autosomal dominant mutations in genes that code for subunits of the heparan 
sulfate copolymerase, EXT1 and EXT2. In most tissues studied to date, heterozygous mutations in either gene results in 
truncated chains. However, the phenotype associated with these mutations appears to be restricted to the cartilage growth 
plate, which is somewhat surprising given the biological importance of heparan sulfate in other tissues. Recent studies of 
heparan sulfate in several systems will be discussed, including studies of vascular permeability, lipoprotein metabolism mediated 
by vascular and hepatic proteoglycans, and microbial infection. Further phenotypic analyses of patients and model organisms are 
needed to determine if truncation of the chains caused by etiological mutations in EXT1 or EXT2 result in changes in physiology 
and metabolism.
         
        
                
        
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              | Photo's taken during the Third International MHE Research Conference
 
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