Physiological role of receptor activator nuclear factor-kB (RANK) in denervation-induced muscle atrophy and dysfunction

The bone remodeling and homeostasis are mainly controlled by the receptor-activator of nuclear factor kB (RANK), its ligand RANKL, and the soluble decoy receptor osteoprotegerin (OPG) pathway. While there is a strong association between osteoporosis and skeletal muscle dysfunction, the functional relevance of a particular biological pathway that synchronously regulates bone and skeletal muscle physiopathology remains elusive. Our recent article published in the American Journal of Physiology (Cell Physiology) showed that RANK is also expressed in fully differentiated C2C12 myotubes and skeletal muscles. We used the Cre-Lox approach to inactivate muscle RANK (RANK(mko)) and showed that RANK deletion preserves the force of denervated fast-twitch EDL muscles. However, RANK deletion had no positive impact on slow-twitch Sol muscles. In addition, denervating RANK(mko) EDL muscles induced an increase in the total calcium concentration ([Ca(T)]), which was associated with a surprising decrease in SERCA activity. Interestingly, the levels of STIM-1, which mediates Ca(2+) influx following the depletion of SR Ca(2+) stores, were markedly higher in denervated RANK(mko) EDL muscles. We speculated that extracellular Ca(2+) influx mediated by STIM-1 may be important for the increase in [Ca(T)] and the gain of force in denervated RANK(mko) EDL muscles. Overall, these findings showed for the first time that the RANKL/RANK interaction plays a role in denervation-induced muscle atrophy and dysfunction.