Endochondral bone formation

Gerber HP, VuTH, Ryan AM, Kowalski J, Werb Z, Ferrara N. VEGF couples hypertrophic cartilage remodeling, ossification and angiogenesis during endochondral bone formation. Nat Med 1999 5 623-628. 

Regulation of the later stages of angiogenesis may be particularly important in highly differentiated tissues and the close relationship between hypoxia and angiogenesis provides a neat mechanism by which perfusion can be matched to the oxygen requirements of the tissue [11]. However, proliferation of blood vessels may itself impair the function of some tissues. For example, vascularization leads to opacification in the cornea. Vascularization of the articular cartilage impairs its biomechanical characteristics and leads to endochondral bone formation [6],... 

A fatal case of hypervitaminosis A involved a premature neonate who died after having ingested 30 000 micrograms RE/day (90 000 lU/day), that is 60 times the recommended intake of vitamin A, for 11 days. On autopsy the skeleton showed marked alterations of endochondral bone formation. There was also evidence of accelerated resorption of bone, hypercalcemia, and metastatic calcification of the skin, soft tissues, and organs (59). 

Paradoxically, whereas aging is associated with a decrease in bone formation [121], it is also linked to vascular calcification [122]. Vascular calcification can form by intramembranous ossification or by endochondral bone formation, and eventually lead to the appearance of mature bone, with bone marrow, in the vasculature... 

Fitzpatrick LA, Turner RT, Ritman ER. Endochondral bone formation in the heart a possible mechanism of coronary calcification. Endocrinology 2003 144 2214-2219. 

Scotti, C., Tonnarelli, B., Papadimitropoulos, A. et aL 2010. Recapitulation of endochondral bone formation using human adult mesenchymal stem cells as a paradigm for developmental engineering. Proc Natl Acad Sd 107 7251-6. 

---