title: Skeletal stem cells.
abstract: Skeletal stem cells (SSCs) reside in the postnatal bone marrow and give rise to cartilage, bone, hematopoiesis-supportive stroma and marrow adipocytes in defined in vivo assays. These lineages emerge in a specific sequence during embryonic development and post natal growth, and together comprise a continuous anatomical system, the bone-bone marrow organ. SSCs conjoin skeletal and hematopoietic physiology, and are a tool for understanding and ameliorating skeletal and hematopoietic disorders. Here and in the accompanying poster, we concisely discuss the biology of SSCs in the context of the development and postnatal physiology of skeletal lineages, to which their use in medicine must remain anchored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy paolo.bianco@uniroma1.it probey@dir.nidcr.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.affiliation: Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA paolo.bianco@uniroma1.it probey@dir.nidcr.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Pamela G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Robey
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000166:cytology*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000166:cytology; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D055153:Stem Cell Niche; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Bone; Bone marrow stromal cell; Cartilage; Hematopoiesis; In vivo transplantation; Skeletal stem cells