Bone Abstracts

The endocannabinoid system has important effects on bone mass and bone turnover. Mice with targeted inactivation of type 1 (CB1) and type 2 (CB2) cannabinoid receptors develop osteoporosis with increasing age raising the possibility that cannabinoid receptor agonists might protect against age-related bone loss. Since cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug and its main psychotropic component -Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)- is an agonist at CB1 and CB2 receptors, we ...

Background: Cannabinoid receptors are expressed in synovial joints but their role in joint disease is unknown. Here we examined the role of the type 2 cannabinoid receptor (CB2) in the pathogenesis of age-related osteoarthritis and osteoarthritis caused by destabilisation of the medial meniscus (DMM) in WT and CB2-deficient mice (Cnr2−/− mice).Methods: The severity of arthritis was graded histologically according to standard techni...

Background: Paget’s disease of Bone (PDB) has a strong genetic component and a candidate locus for the disease has been identified on chromosome 14q32, tagged by rs10498635 located within RIN3 (Albagha et al, Nat Genet 2011). RIN3 encodes a protein that acts as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rab5b and Rab31. Here we investigated the candidacy of RIN3 as a predisposing gene for PDB.Methods: We studied expression of RIN3 by quantita...

IκB Kinase β (IKKβ), a key component of NFκB signaling, plays an important role in bone disease and cancer. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of IKKβ/NFκB signaling increase bone mass and protect against ovariectomy- and inflammation-induced bone loss. Here, we describe a previously unknown role of the IKKβ/FoxO3a axis in bone metastasis associated with breast cancer. We observed that IKKβ expression is prevalent in invasive breast ...