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A stem-cell basis for skeletal ageing

How ageing contributes to bone loss is unclear. In ageing mice, skeletal stem cells lose their ability to generate bone-forming cells called osteoblasts, and instead promote the generation of bone-resorbing cells called osteoclasts.
  1. Matthew B. Greenblatt

    1. Matthew B. Greenblatt is in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York 10065, USA.

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  2. Shawon Debnath

    1. Shawon Debnath is in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York 10065, USA.

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Ageing is a key driver of bone-mass reductions and skeletal fragility. The bone loss that occurs with ageing reflects the confluence of many molecular and cellular processes, and it has therefore been more difficult to understand than the mechanistically distinct form of bone loss associated with the decline of oestrogen in women after menopause1–3. However, insights into the identity of skeletal stem cells (SSCs) and other related progenitor cell populations that produce bone-forming cells called osteoblasts4,5 have facilitated investigation into how ageing affects skeletal cells. Writing in Nature, Ambrosi et al.6 now determine how, with ageing, the function of SSCs changes, contributing to bone loss and impaired skeletal regeneration.

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Nature 597, 182-183 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02118-0

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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