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Hypertrophic chondrocytes can become osteoblasts and osteocytes in endochondral bone formation

2014; National Academy of Sciences; Volume: 111; Issue: 33 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1073/pnas.1302703111

1091-6490

Liu Yang, Kwok Yeung Tsang, Hoi Ching Tang, Danny Chan, Kathryn S.E. Cheah,

Bone and Dental Protein Studies

Significance The possibility that terminally differentiated hypertrophic chondrocytes could survive and become osteoblasts in vivo has been debated for more than a century. We show that hypertrophic chondrocytes can survive the cartilage-to-bone transition and become osteoblasts and osteocytes during endochondral bone formation and in bone repair. Our discovery provides the basis for a conceptual change of a chondrocyte-to-osteoblast lineage continuum, with new insights into the process of endochondral bone formation, the ontogeny of bone cells, and bone homeostasis. Furthermore, our findings have implications for current concepts on mechanisms of skeletal disorders and bone repair and regeneration.