Receptor activator of NF-kB (RANK) pathway regulates bone remodeling and is involved in breast cancer (BC) progression. Genetic polymorphisms affecting RANK-ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) have been previously associated with BC risk and bone metastasis (BM)-free survival, respectively. In this study we conducted a retrospective analysis of the association of five missense RANK SNPs wi...

The receptor activator of nuclear factor κ-B ligand (RANKL)/RANK pathway plays an important role in breast cancer progression. Despite the known role of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma (Cbl)-b as an essential regulator of the RANKL/RANK pathway, its effect on RANK pathway in breast cancer remains unclear. Thus, the present study investigated the effect of Cbl-b on the prognosis of RANK-expressing br...

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a soluble secreted protein and a decoy receptor, which inhibits a receptor activator of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) ligand (RANKL)/the receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK) signaling. Recent clinical studies have shown that a high-serum-OPG level is associated with unfavorable outcome in ischemic stroke, but it is unclear whether OPG is a culprit or an innocent bystander. He...

Functional links between bone remodeling and the immune system in chronic inflammatory arthritis are mediated, in part, by the ligand of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa-B (RANK-L). Because neutrophils play a crucial role in chronic inflammation, the goal of this study was to determine whether proteins of the RANK/RANK-L pathway are expressed by synovial fluid (SF) neutrophils from pa...

Computational approaches to drug discovery can reduce the time and cost associated with experimental assays and enable the screening of novel chemotypes. Structure-based drug design methods rely on scoring functions to rank and predict binding affinities and poses. The ever-expanding amount of protein-ligand binding and structural data enables the use of deep machine learning techniques for pro...

An improved potential mean force (PMF) scoring function, named KScore, has been developed by using 23 redefined ligand atom types and 17 protein atom types, as well as 28 newly introduced atom types for nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). Metal ions and water molecules embedded in the binding sites of receptors are considered explicitly by two newly defined atom types. The individual potential terms w...

Frick, Kevin K., Kelly LaPlante, and David A. Bushinsky. RANK ligand and TNFmediate acid-induced bone calcium efflux in vitro. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 289: F1005–F1011, 2005. First published June 21, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00420.2004.—Chronic metabolic acidosis stimulates net calcium efflux from bone due to increased osteoclastic bone resorption and decreased osteoblastic collagen synthe...

Receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK), known for controlling bone mass, has been recognized for its role in epithelial cell activation of the mammary gland. Because bone and the epidermo-pilosebaceous unit of the skin share a lifelong renewal activity where similar molecular players operate, and because mammary glands and hair follicles are both skin appendages, we have addressed the function of R...

Signaling of RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B) through its ligand RANKL appears critical in osteolysis associated with aseptic loosening (AL). The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of RANK in a murine osteolysis model developed in RANK knockout (RANK(-/-)) mice. Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) debris was introduced into established air pouches...

Introduction. The receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB (RANK), ligand (RANK-L) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) are implicated in the pathogenesis of acute Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN). Materials and Methods. This study aimed to investigate the expression of RANK-L and OPG in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with acute CN. Results. We found that the expression of RANK-L was ...