Access

News

Nature Medicine 13, 1401 (1 December 2007) | doi:10.1038/nm1207-1401

Notable advances

|[bull]| Bone is often the target of hormones, but it also acts as an endocrine organ, releasing a hormone that enhances sugar and fat metabolism. Bone-forming cells secrete the protein osteocalcin, which acts as a hormone, increasing the mass of insulin-producing pancreatic cells, serum insulin levels and fat cell sensitivity to insulin.