Building strong bones: molecular regulation of the osteoblast lineage.
Summary of "Building strong bones: molecular regulation of the osteoblast lineage."
The past 15 years have witnessed tremendous progress in the molecular understanding of osteoblasts, the main bone-forming cells in the vertebrate skeleton. In particular, all of the major developmental signals (including WNT and Notch signalling), along with an increasing number of transcription factors (such as RUNX2 and osterix), have been shown to regulate the differentiation and/or function of osteoblasts. As evidence indicates that osteoblasts may also regulate the behaviour of other cell types, a clear understanding of the molecular identity and regulation of osteoblasts is important beyond the field of bone biology.
Affiliation
Departments of Medicine and Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. flong@wustl.edu.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology
ISSN: 1471-0080
Pages: 27-38
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22189423
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrm3254
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Down-regulation
A negative regulatory effect on physiological processes at the molecular, cellular, or systemic level. At the molecular level, the major regulatory sites include membrane receptors, genes (GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION), mRNAs (RNA, MESSENGER), and proteins.
Up-regulation
A positive regulatory effect on physiological processes at the molecular, cellular, or systemic level. At the molecular level, the major regulatory sites include membrane receptors, genes (GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION), mRNAs (RNA, MESSENGER), and proteins.
Foot Bones
The TARSAL BONES; METATARSAL BONES; and PHALANGES OF TOES. The tarsal bones consists of seven bones: CALCANEUS; TALUS; cuboid; navicular; internal; middle; and external cuneiform bones. The five metatarsal bones are numbered one through five, running medial to lateral. There are 14 phalanges in each foot, the great toe has two while the other toes have three each.
Metatarsal Bones
The five long bones of the METATARSUS, articulating with the TARSAL BONES proximally and the PHALANGES OF TOES distally.
Metacarpal Bones
The five cylindrical bones of the METACARPUS, articulating with the CARPAL BONES proximally and the PHALANGES OF FINGERS distally.
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