Initiation and promotion of endochrondral bone formation by bone morphogenetic proteins: potential implications for avian tibial dyschondroplasia

Center for Tissue Regeneration and Repair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery University of California, Davis, Sacramento 95817, USA. ahreddi@ucdavis.edu

The initiation and promotion of bone morphogenesis is regulated by bone morphogenetic proteins. Morphogenesis of the skeleton is the developmental cascade of pattern formation, establishment of mirror-image bilateral symmetry, initiation and promotion of endochondral bone differentiation, and growth culminating in functional weight bearing. Implantation of demineralized bone matrix initiates a developmental cascade of endochondral bone formation that is reminiscent of the sequential bone morphogenesis in the limb bud in the embryo. The inductive agents in the demineralized bone matrix were identified, isolated and cloned, and demonstrated to be bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP). The BMP have been implicated in the pattern formation, differentiation, and regeneration of bone. Because there is a persistent defect in endochondral bone formation in the epiphysed growth plate in tibial dyschondroplasia in poultry, it is likely that BMP signaling mechanisms may be impaired.

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