Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2014

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It is the authors' final version prior to publication in Autophagy Volume 10, Issue 1, January 2014, Pages 7-19. The published version is available at DOI: 10.4161/auto.26679. Copyright © Landes Bioscience

Abstract

From an evolutionary perspective, the major function of bone is to provide stable sites for muscle attachment and affording protection of vital organs, especially the heart and lungs (ribs) and spinal cord (vertebrae and intervertebral discs). However, bone has a considerable number of other functions: serving as a store for mineral ions, providing a site for blood cell synthesis and participating in a complex system-wide endocrine system. Not surprisingly, bone and cartilage cell homeostasis is tightly controlled, as is the maintenance of tissue structure and mass. While a great deal of new information is accruing concerning skeletal cell homeostasis, one relatively new observation is that the cells of bone (osteoclasts osteoblasts and osteocytes) and cartilage (chondrocytes) exhibit autophagy. The focus of this review is to examine the significance of this process in terms of the functional demands of the skeleton in health and during growth and to provide evidence that dysregulation of the autophagic response is involved in the pathogenesis of diseases of bone (Paget disease of bone) and cartilage (osteoarthritis and the mucopolysaccharidoses). Delineation of molecular changes in the autophagic process is uncovering new approaches for the treatment of diseases that affect the axial and appendicular skeleton.

Additional Files
SUMMARY.docx (13 kB)
Table 1-final-July 22.docx (27 kB)

PubMed ID

24225636

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