Liver protein instructs bone loss in myeloma
Bone loss is common in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). MM cells activate osteoclasts, cells that degrade bone. The sera of MM patients typically have increased amounts of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is secreted by the liver in response to cytokines associated with tissue inflammation and physiological stress, including those secreted by MM. Using samples from patients, as well as human cell lines and mice bearing human bone grafts and MM cells, Yang et al. found that CRP is not merely a diagnostic marker for MM but that rather it feeds back on MM cells to stimulate the expression and secretion of osteoclast-activating cytokines from MM cells, thereby driving bone loss in patients. These findings suggest that targeting the cyclical CRP signaling axis may reduce or prevent MM-associated bone loss.
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