Nadia Rucci, Mattia Capulli, Sara Gemini Piperni, Alfredo Cappariello, Patrick Lau, Petra Frings-Meuthen, Martina Heer, Anna Teti
Mechanical loading represents a crucial factor in the regulation of skeletal homeostasis. Its reduction causes loss of bone mass, eventually leading to osteoporosis. In a previous global transcriptome analysis performed in mouse calvarial osteoblasts subjected to simulated microgravity, the most upregulated gene compared to unit gravity condition was Lcn2, encoding the adipokine Lipocalin 2 (LCN2), whose function in bone metabolism is poorly known. To investigate the mechanoresponding properties of LCN2, we evaluated LCN2 levels in sera of healthy volunteers subjected to bed rest, and found a significant time-dependent increase of this adipokine compared to time 0...
February 2015: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research: the Official Journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research