Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Same process discovered to both form skeleton and protect it for life



A protein signaling pathway recently discovered to guide the formation of the skeleton in the fetus also keeps bones strong through adult life, according to two papers published recently in the journal Nature Medicine. Furthermore, the same mechanism may be at the heart of osteoporosis, where too little bone is made over time, and bone cancer, where uncontrolled bone growth contributes to tumors. Lastly, the results argue that an experimental Alzheimer’s drug may also be useful against bone cancer.
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The current results demonstrate for the first time in live, adult animals that genetic changes made to increase Notch signaling specifically in bone-making cells (osteoblasts) resulted in thickened, abnormal bone similar in some ways to that seen in osteosarcomas, a type of bone cancer. Conversely, eliminating notch resulted over the long term in the weaker bones seen in osteoporosis. The studies confirm that Notch plays a role in bone development, and suggest it also maintains bone strength with aging. The data also provide the first evidence that Notch, connected in the past with leukemia and intestinal tumors, may also play a role in the development of osteosarcoma.




This is a very interesting and strange link between cancer and alzheimer's disease.










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