ABSTRACT
Pentaxin 3 (PTX3), as a multifunctional glycoprotein, plays an important role in regulating inflammatory response, promoting tissue repair, inducing ectopic calcification and maintaining bone homeostasis. The effect of PTX3 on bone mineral density (BMD) may be affected by many factors. In PTX3 knockout mice and osteoporosis (OP) patients, the deletion of PTX3 will lead to decrease of BMD. In Korean community "Dong-gu study", it was found that plasma PTX3 was negatively correlated with BMD of femoral neck in male elderly patients. In terms of bone related cells, PTX3 plays an important role in maintaining the phenotype and function of osteoblasts (OB) in OP state;for osteoclast (OC), PTX3 in inflammatory state could stimulate nuclear factor κ receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) production and its combination with TNF-stimulated gene 6(TSG-6) could improve activity of osteoclasts and promote bone resorption;for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), PTX3 could promote osteogenic differentiation of MSCs through PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. In recent years, the role of PTX3 as a new bone metabolism regulator in OP and fracture healing has been gradually concerned by scholars. In OP patients, PTX3 regulates bone mass mainly by promoting bone regeneration. In the process of fracture healing, PTX3 promotes fracture healing by coordinating bone regeneration and bone resorption to maintain bone homeostasis. In view of the above biological characteristics, PTX3 is expected to become a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of OP and other age-related bone diseases and fracture healing.
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Mice , Bone Resorption/metabolism , Cell Differentiation , Fracture Healing/genetics , Osteoblasts , Osteoclasts , Osteogenesis , Osteoporosis/genetics , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/pharmacologyABSTRACT
As a traditional concept of Chinese medicine (CM), the theory of "Shen (Kidney) controlling bones" has been gradually proven. And in modern allopathic medicine, the multiple mechanisms of bone growth, development and regeneration align with the theory. Shen deficiency as a pathological condition has a negative effect on the skeleton of body, specifically the disorder of bone homeostasis. Present studies indicate that Shen deficiency shares a common disorder characterized by dysfunction of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. HPA axis may be an important regulator of bone diseases with abnormal homeostasis. Therefore, we posit the existence of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-osteo-related cells axis: cells that comprise bone tissue (osteo-related cells) are targets under the regulation of HPA axis in disorder of bone homeostasis. Chinese herbs for nourishing Shen have potential in the development of treatments for disorder of bone homeostasis.
ABSTRACT
Intervertebral disc degeneration is considered as a primary cause of clinical low back pain, however the molecular mechanism is not clear yet. Recently, researches on the molecular basis of intervertebral disc degeneration have become a hotspot. The special structure and biomechanics properties of the disc contribute to its propensity toward degeneration. Intervertebral disc degeneration is associated with the changes of the cytological behavior,including the increase in cell death and the degradation of extracellular matrix. However, the mechanism of cell death including cell apoptosis and autophagy in intervertebral disc degeneration remains unclear. Further study on the molecular mechanism of intervertebral disc degeneration is the foundation of improving and treating the intervertebral disc degeneration in the future. Although some progresses are made in the aspect of biological study, the biological environment of intervertebral disc itself is still a challenge for the development of biological treatment. This article is to review the latest advance on the biological characteristics of normal intervertebral disc and the cell death in the process of the intervertebral disc degeneration.