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This research topic is focused on recent advances in our understanding of effects of mechanical loading on the skeleton, and research methods used in addressing these. Though it is well established that mechanical loading provides an essential stimulus for skeletal growth and maintenance, there have been major advances recently in terms of our understanding of the molecular pathways involved, which are thought to provide novel drug targets for treating osteoporosis. The articles included in this topic encompass the full spectrum of laboratory and clinical research, and range from review articles, editorials, hypothesis papers and original research articles. Together, they demonstrate how mechanical loading underpins many aspects of bone biology, including the pathogenesis and treatment of osteoporosis and other clinical disorders associated with skeletal fragility.

mechanical loading --- bone architecture --- accelerometers --- osteoblast --- osteoporosis --- osteoclast --- fractures --- distraction osteogenesis

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A large literature exists on trabecular and cortical bone morphology. The engineering performance of bone, implied from its 3d architecture, is often the endpoint of bone biology experiments, being clinically relevant to bone fracture. How and why does bone travel along its complex spatio-temporal trajectory to acquire its architecture? The question "why" can have two meanings. The first, "teleological - why is an architecture advantageous?" – is the domain of substantial biomechanical research to date. The second, "etiological – how did an architecture come about?" – has received far less attention. This Frontiers Bone Research Topic invited contributions addressing this "etiological why" – what mechanisms can coordinate the activity of bone forming and resorbing cells to produce the observed complex and efficient bone architectures? One mechanism is proposed – chaotic nonlinear pattern formation (NPF) which underlies – in a unifying way – natural structures as disparate as trabecular bone, swarms of birds flying or shoaling fish, island formation, fluid turbulence and others. At the heart of NPF is the fact that simple rules operating between interacting elements multiplied and repeated many times, lead to complex and structured patterns. This paradigm of growth and form leads to a profound link between bone regulation and its architecture: in bone "the architecture is the regulation". The former is the emergent consequence of the latter. Whatever mechanism does determine bone's developing architecture has to operate at the level of individual sites of formation and resorption and coupling between the two. This has implications as to how we understand the effect on bone of agents such as gene products or drugs. It may be for instance that the "tuning" of coupling between formation and resorption might be as important as the achievement of enhanced bone volume. The ten articles that were contributed to this Topic were just what we hoped for – a snapshot of leading edge bone biology research which addresses the question of how bone gets its shape. We hope that you find these papers thought-provoking, and that they might stimulate new ideas in the research into bone architecture, growth and adaptation, and how to preserve healthy bone from gestation and childhood until old age.

Bone architecture --- coupling --- Bone biomaterials --- remodelling --- Trabecular bone --- morphometry --- Mechanotransduction --- Growth and Development --- Nonlinear pattern formation --- Cortical bone --- Bone architecture --- coupling --- Bone biomaterials --- remodelling --- Trabecular bone --- morphometry --- Mechanotransduction --- Growth and Development --- Nonlinear pattern formation --- Cortical bone

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

A large literature exists on trabecular and cortical bone morphology. The engineering performance of bone, implied from its 3d architecture, is often the endpoint of bone biology experiments, being clinically relevant to bone fracture. How and why does bone travel along its complex spatio-temporal trajectory to acquire its architecture? The question "why" can have two meanings. The first, "teleological - why is an architecture advantageous?" – is the domain of substantial biomechanical research to date. The second, "etiological – how did an architecture come about?" – has received far less attention. This Frontiers Bone Research Topic invited contributions addressing this "etiological why" – what mechanisms can coordinate the activity of bone forming and resorbing cells to produce the observed complex and efficient bone architectures? One mechanism is proposed – chaotic nonlinear pattern formation (NPF) which underlies – in a unifying way – natural structures as disparate as trabecular bone, swarms of birds flying or shoaling fish, island formation, fluid turbulence and others. At the heart of NPF is the fact that simple rules operating between interacting elements multiplied and repeated many times, lead to complex and structured patterns. This paradigm of growth and form leads to a profound link between bone regulation and its architecture: in bone "the architecture is the regulation". The former is the emergent consequence of the latter. Whatever mechanism does determine bone's developing architecture has to operate at the level of individual sites of formation and resorption and coupling between the two. This has implications as to how we understand the effect on bone of agents such as gene products or drugs. It may be for instance that the "tuning" of coupling between formation and resorption might be as important as the achievement of enhanced bone volume. The ten articles that were contributed to this Topic were just what we hoped for – a snapshot of leading edge bone biology research which addresses the question of how bone gets its shape. We hope that you find these papers thought-provoking, and that they might stimulate new ideas in the research into bone architecture, growth and adaptation, and how to preserve healthy bone from gestation and childhood until old age.

Bone architecture --- coupling --- Bone biomaterials --- remodelling --- Trabecular bone --- morphometry --- Mechanotransduction --- Growth and Development --- Nonlinear pattern formation --- Cortical bone