ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the role of Osterix in controlling bone volume in vertebral body and to investigate the possible mechanism .Methods X-ray radiology ,micro CT and HE staining were used to evaluate the change of bone volume in both Osterix knockout and transgenic mice .TRAP staining was used to assess the activity of osteoclasts and immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression level of RANKL .Results No obvious changes were found in Osterix transgenic mice ,while X-ray examina-tion ,micro CT and HE staining showed that the bone density and bone volume in the lumbar vertebral body increased significantly in OSX null mice 12 weeks after birth .TRAP staining showed that the number of osteoclasts decreased in OSX null mice .IHC re-vealed that the expression level of RANKL was down-regualted in OSX null mice .Conclusion Osterix play an important role in controlling bone volume of vertebral body in mice .