Extract
During normal fetal development, a variety of cell-signaling pathways are
regulated in a coordinated manner so that cells can proliferate, move, and
even die off in an organized fashion that allows organs to develop. Over the
past decade, there have been tremendous advances in understanding how the
musculoskeletal system develops. Knowledge about these pathways and how they
regulate cell behavior can be applied to musculoskeletal pathologic conditions
and repair processes. Many of the pathways that are important in development
can be targeted therapeutically; interestingly, many such agents have been
identified by their teratologic potential. Identifying the role of these key
signaling pathways in musculoskeletal disorders carries strong potential to
rapidly identify new therapeutic approaches. Genetically modified organisms,
such as transgenic mice, are important tools in this work. Because these
organisms have genetic abnormalities from the start of development, they can
be used to study the role of genes or cell-signaling pathways both in
development and in pathologic and repair processes that occur in maturity. A
symposium sponsored by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the
Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation, the Orthopaedic Research
Society, the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research, the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Kyphon, and Stryker, on
developmental biology in orthopaedics, was held in Toronto in October 2006 to
review the state of the art in developmental biology of the musculoskeletal
system, determine how this information could be applied to disorders treated
by orthopaedists, and foster greater collaboration between orthopaedic
investigators and developmental biology researchers. The participants also
identified several areas of focus for future research that they thought would
have particularly fruitful potential.