Inhibition effect of enteropeptidase on RANKL-RANK signalling by cleavage of RANK.

Enteropeptidase can cleave trypsinogen on the sequence of Asp-Asp-Asp-Asp-Lys and plays an important role in food digestion. The RANKL-RANK signalling pathway plays a pivotal role in bone remodelling. In this study, we reported that enteropeptidase can inhibit the RANKL-RANK signalling pathway through the cleavage of RANK. A surrogate peptide blocking assay indicated that enteropeptidase could specifically cleave RANK on the sequence NEEDK. Osteoclast differentiation assay and NF-κB activity assay confirmed that enteropeptidase could inhibit osteoclastogenesis in vitro through the cleavage of RANK. This is the first study to prove that the RANKL-RANK signalling pathway can be inhibited by cleavage of RANK instead of targeting RANKL.