Featured conditions Brain tumor, breast cancer, colon cancer, congenital heart disease, heart arrhythmia. See more conditions.
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Merry Jo Oursler, Ph.D., examines the roles of osteoclasts in bone metabolism. Osteoclasts are the cells responsible for bone loss during osteoporosis, causing debilitating pain and fractures following metastasis to bone of many types of cancer including breast and myeloma. Currently available therapies for bone loss suppress osteoclast differentiation and often affect survival. One unintended effect of these therapies is that they also suppress bone formation. Dr. Oursler and her colleagues have discovered that osteoclasts and their precursors produce factors that promote recruitment, differentiation and function of bone-forming osteoblasts. The goal of Dr. Oursler's research program is to discover the mechanisms by which osteoclast lineage cells promote bone formation.
Data from Dr. Oursler's research will contribute to understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling bone resorption and bone formation. This information will enhance future therapies to lessen health problems associated with bone loss, pain and fractures.
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