Background

Dysregulated bone remodelling is the major cause of the pathology of a number of human diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. Our previous work suggests that the immunoglobulin binding protein BiP affects the differentiation of peripheral blood monocytes, so we investigated the effect of BiP on osteoclast differentiation from monocytes in vitro, on resorption of bone explants and the spontaneous onset of arthritis in the human tumour necrosis factor transgenic (hTNFtg) mouse.