Mechanism of Osteoporosis Clarified
Reported August 25, 2008
Korean scientists clarified the mechanism of a protein controlling cells closely related to osteoporosis, a disease prevalent among elderly women.
A research team, headed by Prof. Kim Hong-hee and Prof. Chang Eun-ju at the School of Dentistry of Seoul National University, claimed in an article published Sunday in the Web site of Nature Medicine that a specific protein called CK-B regulates activation of osteoclasts, cells which absorb and destroy bone tissue.
CK-B and other enzymes facilitate the formation of the destructive cells, which means restricting the protein can cut the risk of bone damage, it said.
In experiments, mice showed a reduced loss of bone tissue when researchers mutated their genes so they produce less CK-B. Those injected with a restrainer of the protein also showed much less bone damage.
Osteoporosis is a disease leading to an increased risk of fractures as the mineral density of the bones is reduced, as its micro-architecture is disrupted and the amount and variety of non-collagenous proteins is also altered.
Bone density remains at equilibrium in human bodies when its formation by osteoblasts and destruction by osteoclasts are equal. An imbalance, however, leads to bone problems, including osteoporosis.
The condition is a growing problem in South Korea, which is slowly becoming an aging society.
There are thought to be up to 2 million sufferers in South Korea, most of them post-menopausal women. Cases of osteoporosis in 2003 have grown over ten-fold since 1995, according to the National Health Insurance Corporation data.
Calls for new treatments have been steadily rising lately, as there are problems with existing medicines.
Prof. Kim said the study is the first to shed light on the link between osteoclast formation and the CK-B protein.
“The result is meaningful in that it suggests a possible new target in developing bone-related cures by revealing the controlling mechanism of bones’ activation and destruction,” Kim said.