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Updated: Jan 10, 2026

A Novel in vivo Gene Transfer Technique and in vitro Cell Based Assays for the Study of Bone Loss in Musculoskeletal Disorders
Published on: June 8, 2014
The interplay between the immune microenvironment and bone aging: From molecular mechanisms to therapeutic
Jianxu Wang1, Yijun Xin2, Zihao Dong1
1Department of Joint Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, 250021, Shandong, China.
Abstract:
The core mechanism of skeletal aging lies in the comprehensive disruption of microenvironmental homeostasis, involving a multidimensional interactive network comprising immune cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and their differentiated lineages. Although osteoporosis (OP) and osteoarthritis (OA) have traditionally been viewed as distinct degenerative disorders, recent breakthroughs in osteoimmunology reveal their shared immune-aging mechanism: immune cell dysfunction within the bone marrow microenvironment triggers inflammaging, subsequently driving a vicious cycle of bone formation and resorption through the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). This review not only integrates the molecular landscape of osteoclast-osteoblast-immune triangular crosstalk but also highlights emerging mechanisms such as mitochondrial dysfunction, exosomal communication, and cell death mechanisms, systematically establishing the pivotal role of the immune microenvironment in bone aging and providing a theoretical framework for developing next-generation targeted therapies against skeletal aging.
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