Over the past 20 years, bone tissue has been studied as an endocrine organ that regulates the homeostasis of mineral ions1, the bone marrow niche for hematopoiesis2, energy metabolism3, and even brain function4. As the elderly population has grown to an unprecedented level, new interest in and consideration of healthy bone tissue homeostasis have arisen5. In particular, patients with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are increasing, and many societies must seriously reevaluate their healthcare systems. In other words, people are increasingly interested in maintaining healthy bones and homeostasis along with healthy life expectancy.
In this special issue of Experimental and Molecular Medicine, we highlight research on how bone tissue develops during embryonic development6 and explore recent treatments for skeletal genetic disorders through the functional regulation of RUNX2, a key transcription factor that forms bones7,8. Since one of the main causes of bone tissue diseases is associated with inflammatory cytokines, also featured herein is a study of the physiological and pathological signaling pathways of these cytokines in relation to bone tissue homeostasis9. Finally, we highlight the causes and mechanisms of another senile joint disease, osteoarthritis, and explore the possibility of maintaining the homeostasis of the bone joint with the trace element selenium10. Finding ways to maintain healthy bone tissue homeostasis from various perspectives is one of the pressing challenges in medicine. We hope that the review articles presented in this special issue are informative and useful to our understanding of bone tissue homeostasis.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (Grant No. 2017R1A5A2015391).
Conflict of interest
The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Footnotes
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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