Development of cell-based high-throughput assays for the identification of inhibitors of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B signaling.

Bone loss due to metabolic or hormonal disorders and osteolytic tumor metastasis continues to be a costly health problem, but current therapeutics offer only modest efficacy. Unraveling of the critical role for the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B (RANK) and its ligand, RANK ligand (RANKL), in osteoclast biology provides an opportunity to develop more effective antiresorptive drugs. The in vivo effectiveness of RANKL inhibitors demonstrates the potency of the RANKL/RANK system as a drug target.