Résumé
Many of the diseases treated by orthopedic surgeons reflect a failure of the function of specific populations of cells. Skeletal M deformities often stem directly or indirectly from the abnormal function of the cells of the growth plate and processous cartilage. Impaired healing after an injury is a failure of resident and immigrant cells to restore the tissue at the site of injury. Degenerative osteoarthrosis results from a diminished ability of the cells to balance the repair and degradation of articular cartilage. Osteoporosis is a failure of bone cells to maintain normal bone mass and architecture. Thus, an understanding of the regulation of cell behavior may provide an important insight into the cause of orthopedic diseases and the ability to control cell behavior would be a powerful tool in the treatment of these diseases. Recent advances in cell and molecular biology have revealed that the manipulation of cell behavior is both plausible and feasible