Regulatory mechanisms in the pathways of cartilage and bone formation.
Three transcription factors of the Sox family have essential roles in different steps of the chondrocyte differentiation pathway. Because the transcription factor Cbfa1, which is needed for osteoblast differentiation, also stimulates hypertrophic chondrocyte maturation, it links the chondrocyte and osteoblast differentiation pathways in endochondral bone formation. Signaling molecules, including Indian Hedgehog, PTHrP and FGFs, also establish essential links either between these pathways, between steps in these pathways or between signaling molecules and transcription factors, so that a more comprehensive view of endochondral bone formation is emerging.
de Crombrugghe
B
B
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Molecular Genetics, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Box #11, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. bdecromb@mdanderson.org
Lefebvre
V
V
Nakashima
K
K
D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000196:embryology*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000196:embryology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000502:physiology; D020219:Chondrogenesis; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology; D006801:Humans; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D010012:Osteogenesis; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
D014157:Transcription Factors