title: Signaling pathways regulating cartilage growth plate formation and activity.
abstract: The growth plate is a highly specialized and dynamic cartilage structure that serves many essential functions in skeleton patterning, growth and endochondral ossification in developing vertebrates. Major signaling pathways initiated by classical morphogens and by other systemic and tissue-specific factors are intimately involved in key aspects of growth plate development. As a corollary of these essential functions, disturbances in these pathways due to mutations or environmental factors lead to severe skeleton disorders. Here, we review these pathways and the most recent progress made in understanding their roles in chondrocyte differentiation in growth plate development and activity. Furthermore, we discuss newly uncovered pathways involved in growth plate formation, including mTOR, the circadian clock, and the COP9 signalosome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Samsa
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. Electronic address: guang.zhou@case.edu.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002356:Cartilage / Q000378:metabolism*; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D020219:Chondrogenesis; D057906:Circadian Clocks; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction
keywords: COP9 signalosome.; Chondrocytes; Osteoblasts; Transcriptional regulator; Transdifferentiation