Molecular Mechanisms of Chondrocyte Proliferation and Differentiation

Hui Chen; Xiao-Ning Tan; Shi Hu; Ren-Qin Liu; Li-Hong Peng; Yong-Min Li; Ping Wu

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.664168

Molecular Mechanisms of Chondrocyte Proliferation and Differentiation

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 May 28:9:664168. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.664168. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hui Chen^{1

2

3}, Xiao-Ning Tan^{1

2}, Shi Hu^{3

4}, Ren-Qin Liu^{1

2

3}, Li-Hong Peng⁵, Yong-Min Li^{1

2}, Ping Wu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Hunan University of Chinese Medicine & Hunan Academy of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China.
² The Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Academy of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, China.
⁴ Center for Bionic Sensing and Intelligence, Institute of Bio-medical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
⁵ School of Computer, Hunan University of Technology, Zhuzhou, China.

Abstract

Cartilage is a kind of connective tissue that buffers pressure and is essential to protect joint movement. It is difficult to self-recover once cartilage is damaged due to the lack of blood vessels, lymph, and nerve tissues. Repair of cartilage injury is mainly achieved by stimulating chondrocyte proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis. Cartilage homeostasis involves the regulation of multiple growth factors and the transduction of cellular signals. It is a very complicated process that has not been elucidated in detail. In this review, we summarized a variety of signaling molecules related to chondrocytes function. Especially, we described the correlation between chondrocyte-specific regulatory factors and cell signaling molecules. It has potential significance for guiding the treatment of cartilage injury.

Keywords: FGF; Ihh Notch; TGF-β; Wnt; chondrocyte; growth factor; transcription factor.

Publication types

Review