Natalia Carrillo-López, Laura Martínez-Arias, Cristina Alonso-Montes, Beatriz Martín-Carro, Julia Martín-Vírgala, Marta Ruiz-Ortega, José Luis Fernández-Martín, Adriana S Dusso, Minerva Rodriguez-García, Manuel Naves-Díaz, Jorge B Cannata-Andía, Sara Panizo
BACKGROUND: In chronic kidney disease, serum phosphorus (P) elevations stimulate parathyroid hormone (PTH) production, causing severe alterations in the bone-vasculature axis. PTH is the main regulator of the receptor activator of nuclear factor κB (RANK)/RANK ligand (RANKL)/osteoprotegerin (OPG) system, which is essential for bone maintenance and also plays an important role in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification. The discovery of a new RANKL receptor, leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 4 (LGR4), which is important for osteoblast differentiation but with an unknown role in vascular calcification (VC), led us to examine the contribution of LGR4 in high P/high PTH-driven VC...
December 26, 2020: Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation