More Osteoporosis Progress
EurekAlert reports on more progress towards a complete understanding of biomolecular processes underlying osteoporosis - the serious, widespread condition of age-related bone loss. "Scientists at the Yale School of Medicine identified a molecule in osteoclasts, IRAK-M, that is a key regulator of the loss of bone mass. Osteoclasts are cells that play a major role in the development and remodeling of bone. They originate from the fusion of macrophages and are important mediators of the loss of bone mass that leads to osteoporosis. ... IRAK-M appears to be a key signaling molecule in the prevention of bone loss. In normal mice the level of IRAK-M in osteoclasts is high compared to what is found in macrophages -- and bones are well maintained. Mice that lack IRAK-M develop severe osteoporosis."
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-04/yu-kro040505.php