Osteopetrosis

This review of the mechanism of osteopetrosis incriminates molecular defects in osteoclasts as the cause of the imbalance between bone formation by osteoblasts and bone resorption by osteoclasts. Numerous kinds of defects of osteoclast function can cause osteopetrosis in experimental animals, but only one class of defect — the inability to acidify — has been identified in osteopetrosis in humans.