Osteocyte control of bone remodeling: is sclerostin a key molecular coordinator of the balanced bone resorption–formation cycles?

Osteoporosis International 2014; 25: 2685-2700. doi: 10.1002/biof.1186.

The osteocyte network plays a central role in directing bone response either to mechanical loading, or to unloading, leading correspondingly to bone formation or resorption. This review shows a key role of the osteocyte-produced sclerostin as a major mediator of the molecular mechanisms involved in the process of adaptive bone remodeling.