Cellular communication network factor 3 in cartilage development and maintenance |
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| Authors: | Satoshi Kubota Harumi Kawaki Bernard Perbal Kazumi Kawata Takako Hattori Takashi Nishida |
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| Affiliation: | 1.Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Dentistry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8525 Japan ;2.Department of Oral Biochemistry, Asahi University School of Dentistry, Mizuho, Japan ;3.International CCN Society, Marseille, France ;4.Advanced Research Center for Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, Okayama University Dental School, Okayama, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Cellular communication network factor (CCN) 3 is one of the classical members of the CCN family, which are characterized by common molecular structures and multiple functionalities. Although this protein was discovered as a gene product overexpressed in a truncated form in nephroblastoma, recent studies have revealed its physiological roles in the development and homeostasis of mammalian species, in addition to its pathological association with a number of diseases. Cartilage is a tissue that creates most of the bony parts and cartilaginous tissues that constitute the human skeleton, in which CCN3 is also differentially produced to exert its molecular missions therein. In this review article, after the summary of the molecular structure and function of CCN3, recent findings on the regulation of ccn3 expression and the roles of CCN3 in endochondral ossification, cartilage development, maintenance and disorders are introduced with an emphasis on the metabolic regulation and function of this matricellular multifunctional molecule. |
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| Keywords: | CCN family CCN3 Cartilage Chondrocytes Osteoarthritis |
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