Conclusions
These results suggest that GST-RANKL-biotin is useful for the detection of RANK+ cells and that RANK and CSF-1R may be helpful indicators of osteoclast precursors in PB.
Methods
We sorted sub-populations of mouse bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood (PB) cells using GST-RANKL-biotin, anti-CSF1R, and anti-B220 antibodies and induced osteoclastogenesis in vitro.
Results
The frequency of the RANK+ population in BM detected by GST-RANKL-biotin was significantly higher than that detected by anti-RANK antibodies. Although RANK+ cells were detected in both the B220+ and B220- populations, the macrophage lineage was present only in B220-. Unexpectedly, a significantly higher number of osteoclasts was induced in RANK-CSF-1R+ cells than in RANK+CSF-1R+ cells contained in the B220- population. In contrast, the PB-derived B220-RANK+CSF-1R+ population contained a significantly higher frequency of osteoclast precursors than the B220-RANK-CSF-1R+ population. Conclusions: These results suggest that GST-RANKL-biotin is useful for the detection of RANK+ cells and that RANK and CSF-1R may be helpful indicators of osteoclast precursors in PB.