Dendritic Cells at the Osteo‐Immune Interface: Implications for Inflammation‐Induced Bone Loss

Within the past decade, the critical roles of T cells and T cell–mediated immunity in inflammation‐induced osteoclastogenesis and subsequent bone loss have been extensively studied, thereby establishing the new paradigm of osteoimmunology. Therefore, dendritic cells (DCs), the most potent antigen‐presenting cells, responsible for activation of naïve T cells and orchestration of the immune response, became critically situated at the osteo‐immune interface. Today, emerging new evidence suggests that DC may be directly involved in inflammation‐induced osteoclastogenesis and bone loss, by acting as osteoclast (OC) precursors that can further develop into DC‐derived OCs (DDOC) under inflammatory conditions. These findings have tremendous implications, because in addition to DC's important roles in regulating innate and adaptive immunity, a direct contribution by these cells to inflammation‐induced bone loss may provide a promising therapeutic target not only for controlling inflammation but also for modulating bone destruction.