Department of Endocrinology, 424 General Military Hospital, Second Medical Clinic, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Ippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2011 Dec;18(6):383-8. doi: 10.1097/MED.0b013e32834afff2.
Wingless tail (Wnt) pathway is crucial for osteoblast activation and action. This review summarizes the evidence published during the previous year on the emerging role of Wnt signaling alterations in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and potential therapeutic approaches of osteoporosis.
New insights into the mechanisms regulating Wnt/β-catenin canonical pathway, including the role of Kremen-2 receptor, lamin A/C protein, periostin, and pleiotropin in bone physiology, the crosstalk between the RUNX-2 transcription-factor cascade and the Wnt pathway, and the concept that individual Wnt ligands may have a unique and distinct mission in bone milieu, are presented. Nutritional habits may affect Wnt signaling in bone. Serum sclerostin and dickkopf-1 levels may serve as markers of bone metabolism and disease, although further standardization methods are required. Finally, the effect of current antiosteoporotic treatments on Wnt signaling is discussed, as well as the therapeutic potential of drugs targeting either Wnt signaling amplification or Wnt antagonists' attenuation.
Although Wnt pathway is currently a field of thorough investigation, it is still far from been fully elucidated. Understanding its complex pathophysiology has evoked promising therapeutic approaches for osteoporosis. However, given that Wnt signaling is crucial for many tissues, emerging knowledge should be cautiously translated in therapeutics.
无翅型尾巴（Wnt）信号通路对成骨细胞的激活和功能至关重要。本综述总结了过去一年中发表的关于 Wnt 信号改变在骨质疏松症发病机制、诊断和潜在治疗方法中的新兴作用的证据。
调控 Wnt/β-连环蛋白经典通路的机制的新见解，包括 Kremen-2 受体、核纤层蛋白 A/C 蛋白、外胚层蛋白和多效蛋白在骨生理学中的作用、RUNX-2 转录因子级联与 Wnt 通路的串扰，以及个别 Wnt 配体在骨环境中可能具有独特而不同的作用的概念。营养习惯可能会影响骨中的 Wnt 信号。血清硬骨素和 Dickkopf-1 水平可作为骨代谢和疾病的标志物，尽管需要进一步的标准化方法。最后，讨论了目前抗骨质疏松治疗对 Wnt 信号的影响，以及靶向 Wnt 信号放大或 Wnt 拮抗剂衰减的药物的治疗潜力。
尽管 Wnt 通路目前是一个深入研究的领域，但它仍远未完全阐明。了解其复杂的病理生理学为骨质疏松症的治疗方法提供了有希望的途径。然而，鉴于 Wnt 信号对许多组织至关重要，新兴知识在治疗中的应用应谨慎。
