Signal Pathways Regulating Bone Formation / 中国生物化学与分子生物学报

ABSTRACT

Postnatal skeletal growth and bone remodeling are highly coordinated processes that are primarily mediated by bone formation and bone resorption. The imbalance in bone formation relative to bone resorption will result in the net bone loss that results in changes of bone microenvironment and increased fragility, leading to diseases such as osteoporosis and bone fracture. Bone formation is mediated by osteoblasts, which mainly derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Bone formation process is regulated by multiple signal pathways. It has been found that Wnt/ β-catenin, BMP / Smads, MAPK and other pathways are involved in the regulation of osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. In addition, some signaling related molecules may also contribute to the number increase of osteoblasts and enhanced vascularization, such as growth factors FGF, PDGF, and VEGF. These factors have been regarded as targets to promote bone formation, therefore it is important to understand their underlying molecular mechanisms. This review summarizes the latest research progress on regulatory mechanisms and clinical translational application about the above pathways on promoting bone formation, mesenchymal stem cells growth and differentiation, aiming to provide theoretical basis and directions for searching new potential candidate drugs to promote bone formation.