BoneKEy-Osteovision | Perspective
Update on the transcriptional control of osteoblast differentiation
Gerard Karsenty
DOI:10.1138/20070262
Abstract
2007 marks the tenth anniversary of the identification of Runx2 as a master regulator of osteogenesis. These few papers defined precisely when the field of the transcriptional control of osteoblast differentiation really took off. In this ten-year span, our understanding of the transcriptional control of osteoblast differentiation has made unforeseen progress that will be summarized here. This progress was driven, in part, by a combination of molecular biology and mouse genetic approaches. This was predictable. What was less predictable, yet turned out to exert a profound and long-lasting influence on the field, has been the role played by human genetics as illustrated by the large number of key players in the cell differentiation process that are either mutated or have their activity affected in genetically inherited skeletal diseases. Clearly the role of clinical information in identifying some of these factors has been more pivotal that one would have anticipated in 1997. In turn, elucidating the molecular mechanism of action of osteoblast-specific transcription factors has resulted in novel and simple therapeutic strategies proposed for at least two skeletal dysplasias.
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