Endochondral ossification

Endochondral ossification
A schematic representation of endochondral ossification.
Anatomical terminology

Endochondral ossification[1][2] is one of the two essential pathways by which bone tissue is produced during fetal development of the mammalian skeletal system, the other pathway being intramembranous ossification. Both endochondral and intramembranous processes initiate from a precursor mesenchymal tissue, but their transformations into bone are different. In intramembranous ossification, mesenchymal tissue is directly converted into bone. On the other hand, endochondral ossification starts with mesenchymal tissue turning into an intermediate cartilage stage, which is eventually substituted by bone.[3]

Endochondral ossification is responsible for development of most bones including long and short bones,[4] the bones of the axial (ribs and vertebrae) and the appendicular skeleton (e.g. upper and lower limbs),[5] the bones of the skull base (including the ethmoid and sphenoid bones)[6] and the medial end of the clavicle.[7] In addition, endochondral ossification is not exclusively confined to embryonic development; it also plays a crucial role in the healing of fractures.[3]

  1. ^ Etymology from Greek: ἔνδον/endon, "within", and χόνδρος/chondros, "cartilage"
  2. ^ "Etymology of the English word endochondral". myEtymology. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ a b Šromová, V; Sobola, D; Kaspar, P (5 November 2023). "A Brief Review of Bone Cell Function and Importance". Cells. 12 (21): 2576. doi:10.3390/cells12212576. PMC 10648520. PMID 37947654. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ^ Cowan, PT; Kahai, P (2023), "Anatomy, Bones", StatPearls, Treasure Island, Florida (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 30725884
  5. ^ Blumer, Michael J. F. (1 May 2021). "Bone tissue and histological and molecular events during development of the long bones". Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger. 235: 151704. doi:10.1016/j.aanat.2021.151704. ISSN 0940-9602. PMID 33600952.
  6. ^ Sadler, T.W. (2023). Langman's medical embryology (15th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health. ISBN 978-1975179960.
  7. ^ Hyland, S; Charlick, M; Varacallo, M (2023), "Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Clavicle", StatPearls, Treasure Island, Florida FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 30252246