Functional Diversity of Fibroblast Growth Factors in Bone Formation

Takei Yuichiro

Minamizaki Tomoko

Yoshiko Yuji

International Journal of Endocrinology

The functional significance of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling in bone formation has been demonstrated through genetic loss-of-function and gain-of-function approaches. FGFs, comprising 22 family members, are classified into three subfamilies: canonical, hormone-like, and intracellular. The former two subfamilies activate their signaling pathways through FGF receptors (FGFRs). Currently, intracellular FGFs appear to be primarily involved in the nervous system. Canonical FGFs such as FGF2 play significant roles in bone formation, and precise spatiotemporal control of FGFs and FGFRs at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels may allow for the functional diversity of FGFs during bone formation. Recently, several research groups, including ours, have shown that FGF23, a member of the hormone-like FGF subfamily, is primarily expressed in osteocytes/osteoblasts.This polypeptide decreases serum phosphate levels by inhibiting renal phosphate reabsorption and vitamin D3 activation, resulting in mineralization defects in the bone. Thus, FGFs are involved in the positive and negative regulation of bone formation. In this review, we focus on the reciprocal roles of FGFs in bone formation in relation to their local versus systemic effects.

eng

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Copyright © 2015 Yuichiro Takei et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[ISSN] 1687-8337

[ISSN] 1687-8345

[DOI] 10.1155/2015/729352

[PMID] 25873956

[DOI] https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/729352