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Developmental regulation of the growth plate

Nature volume 423, pages 332–336 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Vertebrates do not look like jellyfish because the bones of their skeletons are levers that allow movement and protect vital organs. Bones come in an enormous variety of shapes and sizes to accomplish these goals, but, with few exceptions, use one process — endochondral bone formation — to generate the skeleton. The past few years have seen an enormous increase in understanding of the signalling pathways and the transcription factors that control endochondral bone development.

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Figure 1: Endochondral bone formation.
Figure 2: Indian hedgehog (Ihh)/parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) negative-feedback loop.
Figure 3: Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling in the growth plate.
Figure 4: Opposing actions of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) on the growth plate.

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Acknowledgements

I thank A. McMahon for a careful review of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02114-2696, Massachusetts, USA

    Henry M. Kronenberg

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  1. Henry M. Kronenberg
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Correspondence to Henry M. Kronenberg.

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Kronenberg, H. Developmental regulation of the growth plate. Nature 423, 332–336 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01657

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