An Emerging Regulatory Landscape for Skeletal Development.
Skeletal development creates the physical framework that shapes our body and its actions. In the past two decades, genetic studies have provided important insights into the molecular processes at play, including the roles of signaling pathways and transcriptional effectors that coordinate an orderly, progressive emergence and expansion of distinct cartilage and bone cell fates in an invariant temporal and spatial pattern for any given skeletal element within that specific vertebrate species. Genome-scale studies have provided additional layers of understanding, moving from individual genes to the gene regulatory landscape, integrating regulatory information through cis-regulatory modules into cell type-specific gene regulatory programs. This review discusses our current understanding of the transcriptional control of mammalian skeletal development, focusing on recent genome-scale studies.
Department of Bioengineering, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
Hironori
H
Hojo
Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, 1425 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Andrew P
AP
McMahon
Department of Bioengineering, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. Electronic address: ohba@bioeng.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Shinsuke
S
Ohba
D000818:Animals; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics; D016678:Genome; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D012863:Skeleton / Q000254:growth & development*
cell specification; chondrocytes; gene regulatory networks; osteoblast; skeletal development; transcriptional regulators