title: [OPG, a possible candidate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis].
abstract: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is an osteoclastogenesis inhibitory factor that we have cloned, and is a decoy receptor that inhibits the binding of an osteoclast differentiation factor, RANKL and its receptor RANK. Pharmacological and developmental approaches have demonstrated that OPG inhibits osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in vivo. OPG may be useful for and applicable to the treatment of bone destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Center fir Experimental Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo.
authors.forename: Hisataka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasuda