THE RANK AND RANKL NEXUS – MOLECULAR ASPECTS

Abstract

RANKL are the chemical mediators secreted by the resident cells of the connective tissue and in the mileau of periodontium they are released during the process of bone turnover either for bone remodelling during orthodontic tooth movement, normal masticatory force bearing, age related changes or for bone resorption due to pathological reasons where plaque influences the cells of inflammation to release PGE2, IL-1 and TNF alpha. These RANKL act on the circulating pre osteoclasts or monocyte macrophage cells which under the influence of M-CSF will start to colacase to form multinucleated osteoclasts that will resorb the bone. Thus, for these various changes to occur in the macrophages and preosteoclasts there will be a need of transcription factors like NFK฀, NFATc1, cFos and others. To understand intracellular mechanisms when RANKL binds onto the trimeric receptor RANK which leads to a better understanding of therapeutic management to deal with pathological bone destructive disease, so we have consolidated this narrative review.