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CCN3 maintains bone density during lactation

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 20, page 507 (2024)Cite this article

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In female individuals, oestradiol preserves bone mass. However, oestradiol levels drop during lactation, which is also a time when calcium is being removed from the maternal bone. How bone mass is maintained in lactating female individuals has been unclear. A study published in Nature has now identified a new mechanism for maintaining bone mass, which involves brain–bone crosstalk.

Next, the researchers conducted single-cell RNA sequencing on osteochondral skeletal stem cells from mutant female mice, which gave limited insights. The observation that a high-fat diet degraded the bone phenotype of the mutant mice enabled Muriel Babey, co-lead on this study, to narrow down the list of potential factors. Of these, CCN3 was found to be present near the third ventricle in female Esr1Nkx2-1-cre mice, but was absent in the wild-type mice. Furthermore, CCN3 expression correlated well with the appearance of the bone phenotype and was co-localized with KISS1 neurons in the female mutant mice.

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  1. Nature Reviews Endocrinology http://www.nature.com/nrendo/

    Claire Greenhill

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  1. Claire Greenhill
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Correspondence to Claire Greenhill.

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Greenhill, C. CCN3 maintains bone density during lactation. Nat Rev Endocrinol 20, 507 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-024-01023-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-024-01023-6

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