<p>Scientists have identified a mechanism that causes the body to stop creating bone-producing cells with age, a finding that may help develop therapies to treat age-realted bone loss conditions like osteoporosis.<br /><br />Osteoporosis - the thinning of bone and the loss of bone density that increases the risk of fractures is a major health problem in older people. This is condition is often accompanied by an increase in fat cells in the bone marrow.<br /><br />Researchers from University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US found that a protein called Cbf-beta plays a critical role in maintaining the bone-producing cells.<br /><br />Furthermore, examination of aged mice showed dramatically reduced levels of Cbf-beta in bone marrow cells, as compared to younger mice, researchers said.<br /><br />They found that when this mechanism malfunctions, progenitor cells stop creating bone-producing cells, and instead create fat cells.<br /><br />Thus, maintaining Cbf-beta may be essential to preventing human age-associated osteoporosis that is due to elevated creation of fat cells, researchers said.<br /><br />The team detailed an underlying mechanism leading to osteoporosis.<br /><br />Bone is a living tissue that constantly rebuilds. Bones need a constant new creation of cells specific to their tissue, including the bone-producing cells called osteoblasts. Osteoblasts live only about three months and do not divide, researchers said.<br /><br />They focused on the molecular mechanism that controls the lineage commitment switch between the osteoblast and adipocyte tracks.<br /><br />"The knowledge of this mechanism can provide targets in the search for novel bone-loss therapeutics to treat human osteoporosis with minimal side effects," they said.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<br /></p>
<p>Scientists have identified a mechanism that causes the body to stop creating bone-producing cells with age, a finding that may help develop therapies to treat age-realted bone loss conditions like osteoporosis.<br /><br />Osteoporosis - the thinning of bone and the loss of bone density that increases the risk of fractures is a major health problem in older people. This is condition is often accompanied by an increase in fat cells in the bone marrow.<br /><br />Researchers from University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US found that a protein called Cbf-beta plays a critical role in maintaining the bone-producing cells.<br /><br />Furthermore, examination of aged mice showed dramatically reduced levels of Cbf-beta in bone marrow cells, as compared to younger mice, researchers said.<br /><br />They found that when this mechanism malfunctions, progenitor cells stop creating bone-producing cells, and instead create fat cells.<br /><br />Thus, maintaining Cbf-beta may be essential to preventing human age-associated osteoporosis that is due to elevated creation of fat cells, researchers said.<br /><br />The team detailed an underlying mechanism leading to osteoporosis.<br /><br />Bone is a living tissue that constantly rebuilds. Bones need a constant new creation of cells specific to their tissue, including the bone-producing cells called osteoblasts. Osteoblasts live only about three months and do not divide, researchers said.<br /><br />They focused on the molecular mechanism that controls the lineage commitment switch between the osteoblast and adipocyte tracks.<br /><br />"The knowledge of this mechanism can provide targets in the search for novel bone-loss therapeutics to treat human osteoporosis with minimal side effects," they said.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<br /></p>