Figure 6.

Involvement of TNF ligand family members in physiological and pathological bone resorption. RANKL appears to play a major role in physiological bone resorption. In contrast, both RANKL-dependent and RANKL-independent pathways appear to be involved in pathological bone resorption. At present, the contribution ratio of the RANKL-dependent and RANKL-independent pathways to the pathological bone resorption is not known. M-CSF, macrophage colony-stimulating factor.