The Skeleton

The skeleton is a complex multifunctional system. In addition to its mechanical/structural support function, it is, as the major reservoir of calcium, intimately involved in intracellular signaling pathways of critical importance both in the complex process of development and the maintenance of physiologic homeostasis. It is also, as the major source of blood cells, a critical part of the circulatory, respiratory, and immune systems. In The Skeleton: Biochemical, Genetic, and Molecular Interactions in Development and Homeostasis, established biomedical researchers, developmental biologists, and clinical practitioners offer a cutting-edge survey of diverse critical issues in bone biology. Topics range from chondrogenesis, chondrocytes, and cartilage to skeletal dysmorphology, and include the control of skeletal development, osteoblastic cell differentiation, and bone induction, growth, remodeling, and mineralization. The authors focus on the biochemical, genetic, and molecular interactions that support the development and homeostasis of the skeleton. Their state-of-the-art understanding of bone physiology-and how it is modified throughout all the stages of life-offers novel approaches for improving the endurance of load-bearing implants, achieving life-long optimal bone strength, overcoming microgravity (space flight), and hastening the healing of fractures, osteotomies, and arthrodeses. Equally important are their insights into metaphyseal fractures in the aged, into the mechanism(s) of osteopenia and osteoporosis, and into how and why, during menopause, healthy women lose only bone adjacent to the marrow. Authoritative and up-to-date, The Skeleton: Biochemical, Genetic, and Molecular Interactions in Development and Homeostasis offers biomedical and clinical researchers rapid access to the latest understanding of the biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, genetics, molecular biology, developmental biology, and aging of the skeleton.