Abstract
The three basic DNA-binding domain mutations of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf), Mitf(mi/mi), Mitf(or/or), and Mitf(wh/wh) affect osteoclast differentiation with variable penetrance while completely impairing melanocyte development. Mitf(or/or) mice exhibit osteopetrosis that improves with age and their osteoclasts form functional multinuclear osteoclasts, raising the question as to why the Mitf(or/or) mutation results in osteopetrosis. Here we show that Mitf(or/or) osteoclasts express normal levels of acid phosphatase 5 (Acp5) mRNA and significantly lower levels of Cathepsin K (Ctsk) mRNA during receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) ligand (RANKL)-mediated differentiation. Studies using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis indicate that low levels of Mitf(or/or) protein are recruited to the Ctsk promoter. However, enrichment of Mitf-transcriptional co-activators PU.1 and Brahma-related gene 1 (Brg1) are severely impaired at the Ctsk promoter of Mitf(or/or) osteoclast precursors, indicating that defective recruitment of co-activators by the mutant Mitf(or/or) results in impaired Ctsk expression in osteoclasts. Cathepsin K may thus represent a unique class of Mitf-regulated osteoclast-specific genes that are important for osteoclast function.