Epidermal IL-17A leads to bone loss through inhibition of osteoblast differentiation

The AP-1 transcription factor family is a central regulator of skin and bone homeostasis. We have previously shown that specific deletion of JunB/AP-1 in epidermis (JunBmice) results in skin inflammation,myeloproliferative disease, lupus-like disease and osteopenia. While upregulation of serum IL-6 and G-CSF are observed in this model, genetic deletion of these cytokines does not rescue osteopenia in JunB mice. Thus, we carried out a screen for other cytokines that are regulated by the loss of JunB in the epidermis. We have identified IL-17A as a cytokine expressed in JunB epidermis in vivo, and hypothesize that IL-17A leads to osteopenia in JunBmice. To test this,we carried out osteoblast …