Bone Abstracts

Osteoclasts secrete acid and cathepsin K to dissolve the mineral and digest the organic matrix of bone, cartilage and dentine. The secretions are by necessity destructive and potentially harmful to the cell itself and are therefore trafficked through the cell in membrane bound vesicles. Secretion takes place over a specialised membrane compartment, the ruffled border, which is only present in resorbing osteoclasts. The ruffled border membrane and the vesicles in its vicinity h...

Shwachman Diamond syndrome (SDS; MIM 260400) is a monogenic, autosomal recessive, pancreatic condition often accompanied by low bone mass and fracture. In SDS, as in cystic fibrosis, a low bone mass may be secondary to poor nutrition or chronic low-grade infection, but it has also been suggested there may be a primary bone phenotype. Paradoxically, recent studies in cell lines and in a mouse knockout for the SBDS gene, have suggested changes in important osteoclast gr...