Histological and elemental analyses of impaired bone mineralization in klotho-deficient mice

The klotho gene-deficient mouse is known as an animal model for an accelerated gerontic state, mimicking osteoporosis, skin atrophy, ectopic calcification, and gonadal dysplasia. To elucidate the influence of klotho deficiency on bone mineralization, we examined the ultrastructures of osteoblasts and bone matrices in addition to performing the elemental mapping of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the bone. Under anesthesia, 4- and 5-week-old klotho-deficient mice (klotho(-/-) mice) and their wild-type littermates were perfused with either 4% paraformaldehyde for light microscopic observation or 4% paraformaldehyde and 0.0125% glutaraldehyde for electron microscopic observation. The femurs and tibiae were processed for both observations. Paraffin sections were subject to alkaline phosphatase and tartrate resistant acid phosphatase histochemistry. Semithin and ultrathin sections obtained from epoxy resin-embedded specimens were used for detecting mineralization - according to von Kossa's staining method - and for elemental mapping by electron probe micro-analyzer, respectively. Alkaline phosphatase-positive plump osteoblasts adjacent to the growth plate normally developed cell organelles in the klotho(-/-) metaphyses. This, however, contrasted with the flattened osteoblasts covering the metaphyseal trabeculae and accompanied by small tartrate resistant acid phosphatase-positive osteoclasts. The wild-type mice displayed the mineralized matrix at the zone of hypertrophic chondrocyte of the growth plate and well-mineralized metaphyseal trabeculae parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bone. Alternatively, the klotho(-/-) mice demonstrated a thick mineralized matrix from the proliferative zone of the growth plate as well as the large non-mineralized area in the metaphyseal trabeculae. Consistently, electron probe micro-analysis verified sporadic distributions of higher or lower concentrations of calcium and phosphorus in each trabecule of the klotho(-/-) mice. The distribution of magnesium, however, was almost uniform. Under transmission electron microscopy, osteoblasts on the metaphyseal trabeculae displayed less-developed cell organelles in the klotho(-/-) mice. Thus, the klotho deficiency appears not only to reduce osteoblastic population, but also to disturb bone mineralization.