Building healthy bones

Bones have diverse roles in the body, such as supporting weight, allowing movement and protecting internal organs. Regardless of their location, all bones in the body are formed and maintained by specialized cells called osteoblasts. To produce the different components of bone, osteoblasts need a constant supply of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. If these nutrients are limited, this may lead to weak and fragile bones that can fracture more easily.

Naïve cells in the bone, which are yet to have a defined role, also require large amounts of amino acids to develop into fully functioning osteoblasts. Previous studies have found that specific amino acids (like glutamine and asparagine) are particularly important for forming the proteins in bone. However, it was unclear which amino acids are critical for the development of osteoblasts.

To investigate, Shen et al. studied naïve cells that had been extracted from the embryos of mice and developed into osteoblasts in the laboratory. They found that the developing osteoblasts produced proteins enriched in proline, and that naïve cells required large amounts of this amino acid as they turned into osteoblasts.

Genetic analysis revealed that osteoblasts carry the gene for a protein called SLC38A2, which has been shown to transport proline into other types of cells. Shen et al. then used gene editing tools to delete this transporter from the osteoblasts of mice. The mutated mice could not efficiently produce proline-rich proteins during embryonic development and formed less bone.

These findings highlight that proline is important for developing osteoblasts and synthesizing the products of bone. Further research is needed, but it is possible that dietary supplements of proline may be beneficial for maintaining or promoting bone formation in adulthood. This could help individuals that have more fragile bones, such as the elderly or patients with bone diseases, like osteoporosis.