Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by a decrease in bone mineral density and an increase in fracture rate. One of the most related to bone density in osteoporosis is osteoclast. Osteoclasts, the only cells that resorbing bone, are a key mediator of skeletal disease such as osteoporosis. Therefore, one of the most influential methods for treating bone diseases with reduced bone mass is inhibiting osteoclast formation and activation. In previous studies, we reported that Hovenia dulcis var. Koreana extracts (HD) inhibits osteoclast differentiation and is effective in the prevention of osteoporosis in vivo. However, we did not disclose how HD works during osteoclast differentiation. Herein, we investigated the mechanisms of anti-osteoclastogenic activity of HD on osteoclast differentiation in vitro. HD inhibited RANKL-mediated osteoclast differentiation of cultured BMMs in a dose-dependent manner and did not exert a cytotoxic effect on BMMs. HD suppressed transcriptional and translational expression of NFATc1 as well as osteoclast-related genes such as TRAP, DCSTAMP, and cathepsin K in BMMs treated with RANKL. Taken together, these results suggest that HD may influence the expression levels of NFATc1 and osteoclast-specific genes during osteoclast differentiation. Therefore, HD may be usefully used as a functional food or a therapeutic agent for bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
서 론(Introduction)
실험 방법(Experimental Methods)
결 과(Results)
고 찰(Discussion)
결 론(Conclusion)