Team from the Institute of Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases (TMBJ), Hong Kong Baptist University, Invited to Participate in the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) is a professional, scientific, and medical society dedicated to bringing together clinical and experimental scientists to discuss bone and mineral metabolism diseases. Its annual meeting is an internationally top-tier conference in the field of bone research, aiming to explore the latest advancements in bone, mineral, and musculoskeletal research. It provides a communication platform for over 3,000 professionals from more than 70 countries worldwide, featuring over 100 educational sessions and more than 1,200 poster presentations. From September 4 to September 9, 2025, the research team from Hong Kong Aptamer, participated in the annual meeting held by ASBMR at the Seattle Convention Center (Figure 1).

Dr. Wang Luyao, a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases (TMBJ), was honored to be invited as a plenary speaker at the conference, where she delivered an academic presentation entitled "Aptamers to Block Specific Loops of Sclerostin" (Figures 2-3). The marketed humanized therapeutic sclerostin antibody Romosozumab was demonstrated to promote bone formation in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis, whereas severe cardiovascular events were found in both clinical trials and post-marketing clinical use. Thus, Romosozumab for postmenopausal osteoporosis was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) with a black-boxed warning on the risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death (FDA Press Announcements), while it was approved by European Medicines Agency (EMA) with restriction to severe postmenopausal osteoporosis who had no disease history of heart attack and stroke (European Medicines Agency Documents). Hence, for the management of chronic bone diseases, there is an urgent need to develop next generation sclerostin inhibitors that can effectively promote bone formation while maintaining cardiovascular safety. The central structure of sclerostin consists of three structural loops, including loop1, loop2, and loop3. The team from Hong Kong Aptamer found that sclerostin participates in inhibiting bone formation and protecting the cardiovascular system through different loops. Mechanistically, sclerostin loop3-osteoblastic LRP4 interaction was required by sclerostin to inhibit bone formation, while sclerostin loop2-macrophagic ApoER2 interaction was involved in the cardiovascular protective effect of sclerostin. Translationally, blockade of sclerostin loop3-LRP4 interaction while preserving sclerostin loop2-ApoER2 interaction could be a precise sclerostin inhibition strategy to promote bone formation without cardiovascular safety concerns. This finding provides a crucial molecular target direction for the discovery of new generation sclerostin inhibitors, addressing the clinical challenge of cardiovascular safety issues faced by Romosozumab. Dr. Wang Luyao's presentation attracted widespread attention from the academic and investment communities.

The abstract submitted by Dr. Jiang Hewen entitled "Adipocytic Sclerostin loop3-LRP4 Interaction Required by Sclerostin to Impair Whole-body Lipid and Glucose Metabolism" was invited for poster presentation, and he was awarded the "Felix Bronner Young Investigator Award" (Figures 4-5).

The abstract submitted by Tao Xiaohui entitled "Targeting Sclerostin Loop3 could Enhance Serum Phosphorus Levels and Promoting Bone Formation in Hyp Mice" was invited for an oral presentation, and she was awarded the 2025 "Young Investigator Award" (Figures 6-7).

The abstract submitted by Yang Xin entitled "AptGEN: Rapid Discovery of AI-Generated Aptamers Targeting CTGF CT-domain for DMD Fibrosis" was invited for poster presentation, and he received the "Young Investigator Emerging Country Travel Grant" (Figure 8).

Figure 1 The research team of the Hong Kong Aptamer participated in the 2025 ASBMR Annual Meeting at the Seattle Convention Center

Figures 2-3 Dr. Wang Luyao was invited as a plenary speaker to give a presentation participated in the post-presentation discussion

Figures 4-5 Dr. Jiang Hewen gave a poster presentation and was awarded the 2025 "Felix Bronner Young Investigator Award"

Figures 6-7 Tao Xiaohui gave an oral presentation and was awarded the 2025 "Young Investigator Award"

Figure 8 Yang Xin gave a poster presentation and was awarded the 2025 " Young Investigator Emerging Country Travel Grant "