BACKGROUND Davallia formosana Hayata is a herb that has been used in Chinese medicine to treat bone diseases, including arthritis, bone fractures and osteoporosis. The rhizome of D. formosana H. has been found to be rich in (-)-Epicatechin 3-O-β-D-allopyranoside (ECAP), which is considered to be the active component of the plant in terms of its antiosteoporotic effect. This study investigated t...

Receptor activator of nuclear factorB ligand (RANKL) expression is tissue specific and limited to certain subsets of T-lymphocytes and stromal/ osteoblastic cells. Even among osteoblasts, RANKL is expressed on about 20% of osteoblasts of the normal mouse. To clarify the mechanism of population-specific RANKL expression, we analyzed the effect of CpG methylation on its transcription, mRNA and pr...

OBJECTIVE Local bone destruction in rheumatic diseases, which often leads to disability and severely reduced quality of life, is almost exclusively mediated by osteoclasts. Therefore, it is important to understand pathways regulating the generation of osteoclasts. Here, we analysed the impact of the Phosphoinositide-3-Kinase (PI3K)/Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) axis on osteoclast genera...

Increased osteoclast-mediated bone resorption is characteristic of osteoporosis, malignant bone disease and inflammatory arthritis. Targeted deletion of Sirtuin1 (Sirt1), a key player in aging and metabolism, in osteoclasts results in increased osteoclast-mediated bone resorption in vivo, making it a potential novel therapeutic target to block bone resorption. Sirt1 activating compounds (STACs)...

Craniometaphyseal dysplasia (CMD) is a rare genetic disorder with hyperostosis of craniofacial bones and widened metaphyses in long bones. Patients often suffer from neurological symptoms due to obstruction of cranial foramina. No proven treatment is available and the pathophysiology is largely unknown. A Phe377 (TTC(1130-1132)) deletion in exon 9 of the pyrophosphate (PPi) transporter ANK lead...

Significant bone remodeling with disordered osteoclastogenesis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). And there is a high prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MS) in PsA patients. Adipokines, especially leptin and adiponectin, have recently been reported to be involved in the development and regulation of some autoimmune diseases. In this study, we examined the a...

The receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) signal is an activator of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6), which leads to the activation of NF-κB and other signal transduction pathways essential for osteoclastogenesis, such as Ca(2+) signaling. However, the intracellular levels of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) and IP(3)-mediated cellular function of RANKL during...