Protein found to help bone formation

U.S. scientists have found Notch -- a protein governing embryotic cell differentiation -- also plays a role in bone formation and strength later in life.

The Baylor College of Medicine researchers said their finding might provide a basis for understanding osteoporosis and other diseases in which there is too much bone.

We knew that Notch is important in patterning the skeleton, said Dr. Brendan Lee, a professor of molecular and human genetics and pediatrics. After this initial patterning of the skeleton, we saw a dimorphic or two-pronged function for Notch. If there was an increase of Notch activity in bone cells, we get a lot more bone. Notch stimulates early proliferation of osteoblastic cells (cells responsible for bone formation). However, when they 'knocked out' the Notch function in such cells in the laboratory, they found osteoporosis or the loss of bone, similar to age-related osteoporosis in humans.

In the laboratory, Lee and his colleagues found when animals were bred to lack Notch, they lost the ability to suppress bone resorption. That balance between bone formation and resorption allows organisms to maintain a healthy skeleton, he said.

The research appears in the journal Nature Medicine.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International