Sex-determining region Y (SRY) attributes to gender differences in RANKL expression and incidence of osteoporosis

Abstract

Bone health: Insight into gender differences in osteoporosis A male-specific gene offers clues to diagnosis and treatment of age-related osteoporosis. Osteoporosis was known to be linked to higher expression levels of RANKL, a gene that induces bone resorption, but the details were poorly understood. Nika Lovsin at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and co-workers searched for the genetic switches that control RANKL levels. They found that SRY, a gene on the male-specific Y chromosome, was a strong repressor of RANKL. In bone samples from osteoporotic men, expression levels of SRY levels were low and those of RANKL were high, suggesting that in men, when SRY fails to keep the bone-resorbing RANKL in check, osteoporosis results. SRY shows promise as an osteoporosis marker in men, or for development of treatment for both genders. Future research could address what triggers decreased SRY expression in men.