A murine model of large-scale bone regeneration reveals a selective requirement for Sonic Hedgehog.

ABSTRACT: Building and maintaining skeletal tissue requires the activity of skeletal stem and progenitor cells (SSPCs). Following injury, local pools of these SSPCs become active and coordinate to build new cartilage and bone tissues. While recent studies have identified specific markers for these SSPCs, how they become activated in different injury contexts is not well-understood. Here, using a model of large-scale rib bone regeneration in mice, we demonstrate that the growth factor, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), is an early and essential driver of large-scale bone healing. Shh expression is broadly upregulated in the first few days following rib bone resection, and conditional knockout of Shh at early but not late post-injury stages severely inhibits cartilage callus formation and later bone regeneration.

SUBMITTER: Serowoky MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9114339 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature