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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Mechanism of Regulation of Adipocyte Numbers in Adult Organisms Through Differentiation and Apoptosis Homeostasis
Published on: June 3, 2016
Osteopontin: Relation between Adipose Tissue and Bone Homeostasis
Carolina De Fusco1, Antonietta Messina1, Vincenzo Monda1
1Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology and Unit of Dietetic and Sport Medicine, Second University of Naples, 16 Costantinopoli Str., 80138 Naples, Italy.
Abstract:
Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional protein mainly associated with bone metabolism and remodeling. Besides its physiological functions, OPN is implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of disease states, such as obesity and osteoporosis. Importantly, during the last decades obesity and osteoporosis have become among the main threats to health worldwide. Because OPN is a protein principally expressed in cells with multifaceted effects on bone morphogenesis and remodeling and because it seems to be one of the most overexpressed genes in the adipose tissue of the obese contributing to osteoporosis, this mini review will highlight recent insights about relation between adipose tissue and bone homeostasis.
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