Continuing my previous post about emerging drugs for osteoporosis, one of the new classes in development are those that target sclerostin.

Sclerostin is a protein produced by osteocytes within bone that inhibits bone formation. It is thought to pass through the surface of bone where it acts on osteoblasts (cells responsible for bone formation).  There it binds to low-density lipoprotein receptors and inhibits the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling involved in bone mass regulation.

There is some uncertainty in the scientific literature as to the precise method by which sclerostin acts on bone. However, the Wnt/beta-catenin osteocytic signaling does play a role in bone homeostasis.

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