Molecular Mechanisms Mediating Proliferation/Differentiation Interrelationships During Progressive Development of the Osteoblast Phenotype

A FUNCTIONAL relationship between cell growth and the initiation and progression of events associated with differentiation has been a fundamental question challenging developmental biologists for more than a century. In the case of bone, as observed with other cells and tissue, the relationship of growth and differentiation must be maintained and stringently regulated, both during development and throughout the life of the organism, to support tissue remodeling. For many years, bone was defined anatomically and examined largely in a descriptive manner by ultrastructural analysis and by biochemical and histochemical methods. These studies provided the basis for our understanding of bone tissue organization and orchestration of the progressive recruitment, proliferation, and differentiation of the various cellular components of bone tissue. Now, complemented by an increased knowledge of molecular mechanisms that are associated with and regulate expression of genes encoding phenotypic components of bone, and those that may control the progressive development and maturation of the bone cell phenotype, our understanding of bone cell and tissue differentiation is rapidly expanding.