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Nature 416, 686-687 (18 April 2002) | doi:10.1038/416686a

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Medicine: Interfering with bone remodelling

Tamara Alliston1 & Rik Derynck1

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As they mature, bone-resorbing cells trigger the production of their own 'off-switch' — the interferon-beta protein — to prevent the runaway bone loss that is seen in diseases such as osteoporosis.

In adult vertebrates, ten per cent of the skeletal bone mass is replaced every year, amounting to a complete structural overhaul every decade. This constant remodelling allows bone to carry out its many functions: to support the body and allow movement; to incubate developing immune cells; and to act as a reserve of inorganic minerals, especially calcium.

  1. Tamara Alliston and Rik Derynck are in the Departments of Growth and Development, and Anatomy, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0640, USA.
    e-mail: Email: tallist@itsa.ucsf.edu
    e-mail: Email: derynck@itsa.ucsf.edu