Therefore, revealing the impact of bacterially-activated osteocytes on the skeleton and identifying the molecular pathway of bacterially-activated osteocytes leading to RANKL expression could provide significant implications for treating osteolysis associated with bone infections such as periodontitis and osteomyelitis because osteocytes are the most abundant bone cells predominantly producing RANKL8–10. This evidence concerns the gene TNFSF11 and osteomyelitis.