Molecular genetic studies of gene identification for osteoporosis

Abstract

This review comprehensively summarizes the most important and representative molecular genetics studies of gene identification for osteoporosis published up to the end of September 2007. It is intended to constitute a sequential update of our previously published reviews covering the available data up to the end of 2004. Evidence from candidate gene-association studies, genome-wide linkage and association studies, as well as functional genomic studies (including gene-expression microarray and proteomics) on osteogenesis and osteoporosis, are reviewed separately. Studies of transgenic and knockout mice models relevant to osteoporosis are summarized. The major results of all studies are tabulated for comparison and ease of reference. Comments are made on the most notable findings and representative studies for their potential influence and implications on our present understanding of genetics of osteoporosis. The format adopted by this review should be ideal for accommodating future new advances and studies.

Keywords::

• association
• linkage
• microarray
• osteoporosis
• proteomics

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Investigators of this work were funded in part by grant 30570875 from National Science Foundation of China, Xi’an Jiaotong University and the Ministry of Education of China. HW Deng was partially supported by grants from NIH (R01 AR050496–01, R21 AG027110, R01 AG026564 and P50 AR055081). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.