CONTROL OF TGF-BETA RECEPTOR EXPRESSION IN BONE

Michael Centrella, Changhua Ji, Thomas L. McCarthy

Department of Surgery, Plastic Surgery Section, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, PO Box 208041, New Haven, CT 06520-8041,

Received 12/1/97 Accepted 12/5/97

3. BONE GROWTH AND REMODELING

Bone is a dynamic tissue that forms and remodels throughout life. Bone formation increases during early life and declines during senescence. With many diseases or certain pharmacological interventions, osteoblast activity and bone formation decline. Bone loss then accelerates and its structural quality is reduced. This accompanies an increase in fracture and pain, and a decrease in mobility and function. Loss of bone integrity and much of its subsequent pathology may therefore follow an imbalance between osteoblastic bone formation and osteoclastic resorption that define the symmetrical sequence of normal bone remodeling (1-3).