Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells with the capacity to undergo chondrogenic differentiation. Systemically administered MSCs have been shown to preferentially accumulate at sites of tissue damage and inflammation, thus MSC-based therapy holds great promise for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as RA. Modulation of MSC homing may allow targeted delivery of systemically...

PTHrP is a key factor regulating the pace of endochondral ossification during skeletal development. Mandibular advancement solicits a cascade of molecular responses in condylar cartilage. However, the pace of cellular maturation and its effects on condylar growth are still unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pattern of expression of PTHrP and correlate it to cellular dynamics...

This commentary is a concise discussion of the interactions between bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and their binding proteins in bone and cartilage morphogenesis. BMPs are a family of growth and differentiation factors, and they act on mesenchymal cells to induce cartilage and bone differentiation in concentration-dependent thresholds. The BMP-BMP receptor binding leads to a cascade of sign...

It is well established that mechanical loading is important to homeostasis of cartilage tissue, and growing evidence suggests that it influences cartilage differentiation as well. Whereas the effect of mechanical forces on chondrocyte biosynthesis and gene expression has been vigorously investigated, the effect of the mechanical environment on chondrocyte differentiation has received little att...

Cell-to-cell interactions in early limb development are considered within the framework of the extracellular signals STOP, GO, STAY and POSITION, a classification which emphasises that the signals are elective rather than instructive, and that complexity arises from cells' response. Patterning in the limb is analysed in terms of signals that specify positional values along the anteroposterior a...

In adult healthy cartilage, chondrocytes are in a quiescent phase characterized by a fine balance between anabolic and catabolic activities. In ageing, degenerative joint diseases and traumatic injuries of cartilage, a loss of homeostatic conditions and an up-regulation of catabolic pathways occur. Since cartilage differentiation and maintenance of homeostasis are finely tuned by a complex netw...

The capacity of an adult organism to repair degenerated cartilage is very limited due to its avascularity and the lack of an intrinsic chondrocyte progenitor reservoir. The transplantation of bioartificial cartilage generated in vitro could provide a means of prevention or treatment of early degenerative osteoarthritis (OA). Tissue engineering approaches for the regeneration of articular cartil...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related disease with poorly understood pathogenesis. Recent studies have demonstrated that miRNA might play a key role in OA initiation and development. We reviewed recent publications and elucidated the connection between miRNA and OA cartilage anabolic and catabolic signals, including four signaling pathways: TGF-β/Smads and BMPs signaling, associated with cartil...

Cartilage provides the template for endochondral ossification and is crucial for determining the length and width of the skeleton. Transgenic mice with targeted expression of recombinant cartilage-derived morphogenetic protein-1 (CDMP-1), a member of the bone morphogenetic protein family, were created to investigate the role of CDMP-1 in skeletal formation. The mice exhibited chondrodysplasia w...

Articular cartilage injuries, often caused by trauma, have a limited potential to heal, which over time, may lead to osteoarthritis, an inflammatory and degenerative joint disease frequently associated with activity-related pain, swelling and impaired mobility. Many treatment modalities have been introduced but with limited success due to the formation of inferior fibrocartilage at the damaged ...