title: The role and regulation of osteoclasts in normal bone homeostasis and in response to injury.
abstract: Bone is a dynamic tissue, with a range of diverse functions, including locomotion, protection of internal organs, and hematopoiesis. Optimum treatment of fractures and/or bone defects requires knowledge of the complex cellular interactions involved with bone healing and remodeling. Emerging data have underscored the importance of osteoclasts in this process, playing a key role both in normal bone turnover and in facilitating bone regeneration. In this review, the authors discuss the basic principles of osteoclast biology, including its cellular origins, its function, and key regulatory mechanisms, in addition to conditions that arise when osteoclast function is altered.
authors.affiliation: Stanford, Calif. From the Hagey Laboratory for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McArdle
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Marecic
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tevlin
authors.forename: Graham G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Walmsley
authors.forename: Charles K F
authors.initials: CKF
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Longaker
authors.forename: Derrick C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016723:Bone Remodeling / Q000502:physiology*; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D010010:Osteoclasts / Q000502:physiology*