Transcription factors controlling osteoblastogenesis

The recent development of molecular biology and mouse genetics and the analysis of the skeletal phenotype induced by genetic mutations in humans led to a better understanding of the role of transcription factors that govern bone formation. This review summarizes the role of transcription factors in osteoblastogenesis and provides an integrated perspective on how the activities of multiple classes of factors are coordinated for the complex process of developing the osteoblast phenotype. The roles of Runx2, the principal transcriptional regulator of osteoblast differentiation, Osterix, β-Catenin and ATF which act downstream of Runx2, and other transcription factors that contribute to the control of osteoblastogenesis including the AP1, C/EBPs, PPARγ and homeodomain, helix–loop–helix proteins are discussed. This review also updates the regulation of transcription factor expression by signaling factors and hormones that control osteoblastogenesis.