Bone-building find hold hope for improved osteoporosis treatment
November 1st, 2008 - 5:04 pm ICT by ANI Washington, November 1 (ANI): A team of American scientists claims to have uncovered an important step in hormone-triggered bone growth, paving the way for new osteoporosis drugs and better bone-building therapies.
The research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) showed that parathyroid hormone (PTH) given intermittently enhances the body’’s own bone-building action through a specific “co-receptor” on the surface of bone cells.
While scientists have known for long that PTH stimulates bone formation, the exact mechanism underlying this effect has been unknown to date.
“Our study uncovers a novel mechanism for how parathyroid hormone signaling selectively stimulates bone formation. We have identified the protein co-receptor crucial to the whole process,” said Dr. Xu Cao, UAB professor of pathology and senior author on the study.
During the study, the researchers focused on PTH signals in mice to see which cell receptors would actively recruit calcium from the blood.
Dr. Mei Wan, UAB associate professor of molecular and cellular pathology and first author on the study, said that the teams efforts helped uncover the one co-receptor responsible for turning on bone building.
Dr. Jay McDonald, pathology professor and director of UAB’’s Center for Metabolic Bone Disease, pointed out that the exact mechanism of PTH-signalled bone formation was previously shrouded by the joint production of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, two types of cells that are instrumental in regulating a healthy skeleton.
While osteoblasts regulate a healthy skeleton by forming new bone, and osteoclasts do so by resorbing old and brittle bone.
McDonald highlighted the fact that many existing osteoporosis drugs target both osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which can lead to zero or minimal bone formation.
“The ideal would be to have one drug to shut down the osteoclasts and turn on the osteoblasts to effectively build bone. We don”t have that yet, but this study shows us the path to get there,” he said.
An article describing the new study has been published in the journal Genes and Development. (ANI)
- Found: Hormone that builds your bones - Nov 01, 2008
- Bones may have bigger role in diabetes than believed - Jul 23, 2010
- Why common drugs can lead to broken bones - Jun 09, 2010
- New gene could trigger osteoporosis - Oct 05, 2011
- Hormone could be key to keeping osteoarthritis at bay - Sep 14, 2009
- Existing osteoporosis drug may keep joint injuries from causing long-term osteoarthritis - Sep 13, 2009
- Follicle-stimulating hormone decreases bone mineral density during menopause - Apr 26, 2010
- Fabled 'vegetable lamb' plant could harbour osteoporosis cure - Oct 15, 2009
- Try dietary calcium, Vitamin D for bone building - May 03, 2011
- Dietary calcium, supplements better than prescription bone-building meds - May 03, 2011
- Exercise pill for osteoporosis patients on the way - Apr 08, 2010
- Potential therapeutic target for bone-degenerating diseases identified - Feb 09, 2009
- Now, just one bone-building jab is all it takes to cure osteoporosis - Apr 23, 2011
- A jab to beat osteoporosis by building new bones - Apr 22, 2011
- How stem cells shape up to their surroundings - Oct 08, 2010
Tags: alabama at birmingham, american scientists, bone cells, bone formation, bone growth, brittle bone, cell receptors, cellular pathology, dr jay, exact mechanism, metabolic bone disease, novel mechanism, osteoblasts and osteoclasts, osteoporosis drugs, osteoporosis treatment, parathyroid, paving the way, s center, uab, university of alabama at birmingham