Molecular Basis of Bone Development

The skeleton develops from mesodermal cells
committed to differentiate into three specialized
cell types: chondrocytes (cartilage-forming
cells), obsteoblasts (bone-forming cells),
osteoclasts (bone-degrading cells), and their
precursor cells. Osteoblasts produce most of the
proteins for the extracellular bone matrix and
control its mineralization. The osteoblast cell
lineage involves osteoblast-specific transcription
factors (OSFs). One such transcription factor
was identified in 1997 as a major regulator
of osteoblast differentiation, the core-binding
factor Cbfal.