FOS AND BONE CELL-DEVELOPMENT - LESSONS FROM A NUCLEAR ONCOGENE

Vertebrate embryologists are beginning to understand the early developmental decisions that control the origin and patterning of skeletal elements. However, the regulators governing the development of the cells that form the skeleton, namely, bone and cartilage cells, are poorly understood. Recent studies using transgenic and knockout mice have established a unique role for the protooncogene and nuclear transcription factor, Fos, in regulating the differentiation and activity of specific bone cell populations, both during normal development and in bone disease.