Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2012 Sep 3;3:261. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00261

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2012 Mueller and Hess.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.

PMC Copyright notice

RANKL function in the bone, the adaptive immune system and the vascular system. (A) RANKL produced by bone marrow stroma (osteoblasts and osteocytes) directs the differentiation of preosteoclasts of the myeloid lineage into mature osteoclasts. Stroma-derived OPG negatively regulates RANKL-RANK interaction. (B) Activated T cells express RANKL that stimulates dendritic cell survival and maturation. (C) Endothelium is a source for RANKL and OPG. RANK-activation of endothelial cells supports cell survival and promotes angiogenesis.