| abstract |
The present invention relates to methods and materials used to express the H BM protein in animal cells and transgenic animals. The present invention also relates to transgenic animals expressing the high bone mass gene, the corresponding wild-type gene, and mutants thereof. The invention provides nucleic acids, including coding sequences, oligonucleotide primers and probe s, proteins, cloning vectors, expression vectors, transformed hosts, methods of developing pharmaceutical compositions, methods of identifying molecules involved in bone development, and methods of diagnosing and treating disease s involved in bone development. In preferred embodiments, the present inventio n is directed to methods for treating, diagnosing and preventing osteoporosis. |