Osteocalcin in the brain: from embryonic development to age-related decline in cognition

Author: Arnaud Obri1, Lori Khrimian1, Gerard Karsenty1, Franck Oury2
Affiliation:
1 Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Medical Center, 701 W 168th St. Rm 1602, New York City, New York 10032, USA.
2 Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, CS 61431, Paris, France Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U1151, F-75014 Paris, France Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75006 Paris, France.
Conference/Journal: Nat Rev Endocrinol
Date published: 2018 Mar 1
Other: Volume ID: 14 , Issue ID: 3 , Pages: 174-182 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1038/nrendo.2017.181. , Word Count: 196


A remarkable, unexpected aspect of the bone-derived hormone osteocalcin is that it is necessary for both brain development and brain function in the mouse, as its absence results in a profound deficit in spatial learning and memory and an exacerbation of anxiety-like behaviour. The regulation of cognitive function by osteocalcin, together with the fact that its circulating levels decrease in midlife compared with adolescence in all species tested, raised the prospect that osteocalcin might be an anti-geronic hormone that could prevent age-related cognitive decline. As presented in this Review, recent data indicate that this is indeed the case and that osteocalcin is necessary for the anti-geronic activity recently ascribed to the plasma of young wild-type mice. The diversity and amplitude of the functions of osteocalcin in the brain, during development and postnatally, had long called for the identification of its receptor in the brain, which was also recently achieved. This Review presents our current understanding of the biology of osteocalcin in the brain, highlighting the bony vertebrate specificity of the regulation of cognitive function and pointing toward where therapeutic opportunities might exist.


PMID: 29376523 PMCID: PMC5958904 DOI: 10.1038/nrendo.2017.181

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