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Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue and Skeletal Health

Current Osteoporosis Reports volume 16, pages 434–442 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose of Review

To summarize and discuss recent progress and novel signaling mechanisms relevant to bone marrow adipocyte formation and its physiological/pathophysiological implications for bone remodeling.

Recent Findings

Skeletal remodeling is a coordinated process entailing removal of old bone and formation of new bone. Several bone loss disorders such as osteoporosis are commonly associated with increased bone marrow adipose tissue. Experimental and clinical evidence supports that a reduction in osteoblastogenesis from mesenchymal stem cells at the expense of adipogenesis, as well as the deleterious effects of adipocyte-derived signaling, contributes to the etiology of osteoporosis as well as bone loss associated with aging, diabetes mellitus, post-menopause, and chronic drug therapy. However, this view is challenged by findings indicating that, in some contexts, bone marrow adipose tissue may have a beneficial impact on skeletal health.

Summary

Further research is needed to better define the role of marrow adipocytes in bone physiology/pathophysiology and to determine the therapeutic potential of manipulating mesenchymal stem cell differentiation.

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Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (CJS) and the National Institutes of Health grants R03AR063326 (RG) and R01CA188464 (RG).

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Affiliations

  1. Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Shanmugam Muruganandan & Rajgopal Govindarajan

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, 5850 College Street, Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H4R2, Canada

    Christopher J. Sinal

Authors
  1. Shanmugam Muruganandan
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  2. Rajgopal Govindarajan
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  3. Christopher J. Sinal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher J. Sinal.

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Conflict of Interest

Muruganandan Shanmugam and Rajgopal Govindarajan declare no conflict of interest. Christopher Sinal reports grants from Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council, during the conduct of the study.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Bone Marrow and Adipose Tissue

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Muruganandan, S., Govindarajan, R. & Sinal, C.J. Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue and Skeletal Health. Curr Osteoporos Rep 16, 434–442 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-018-0451-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-018-0451-y

Keywords

  • Adipocyte
  • Bone
  • Differentiation
  • Mesenchymal stem cell
  • Osteoblast