Skeletal Morphogenesis and Remodeling: Mechanisms Shaping Bone Formation

Skeletal morphogenesis and remodeling are tightly coordinated biological processes that establish bone shape, size, and functional integrity throughout development and postnatal life. Bone formation begins during embryogenesis through highly regulated morphogenetic programs that define skeletal patterning, followed by continuous remodeling that refines structure and maintains homeostasis. These processes rely on precise spatial and temporal regulation of cellular differentiation, matrix deposition, and resorption, enabling the skeleton to adapt to mechanical demands and physiological cues.

During development, morphogenetic signaling pathways orchestrate the differentiation of mesenchymal progenitors into osteoblasts and chondrocytes, guiding endochondral and intramembranous ossification. These pathways integrate positional information with growth dynamics to generate complex skeletal architectures. As development progresses, remodeling becomes essential for shaping bones, repairing microdamage, and adapting skeletal form to mechanical loading. The balance between bone forming osteoblasts and bone resorbing osteoclasts is critical, and disruptions in this balance contribute to developmental abnormalities and skeletal disease.

Recent advances have revealed that skeletal morphogenesis and remodeling are not distinct phases but overlapping and interdependent processes. Remodeling begins early in development and continues throughout life, influencing morphogenetic outcomes and long term skeletal health. Understanding how developmental patterning programs interface with remodeling mechanisms remains a major challenge in skeletal biology.

This Research Topic aims to bring together original research and reviews that explore the molecular, cellular, and biomechanical mechanisms linking skeletal morphogenesis and remodeling. By integrating developmental biology with bone homeostasis research, this collection seeks to provide new insights into how bone form and function are established, maintained, and altered in disease. Contributions addressing normal development as well as pathological conditions will be particularly welcome, with relevance to regenerative medicine and skeletal disorder therapeutics.

Key research areas include but not limited to:

1. Molecular signaling networks regulating skeletal morphogenesis and remodeling

2. Cellular lineage decisions and plasticity during bone formation and reshaping

3. Integration of mechanical forces with developmental and remodeling programs

4. Crosstalk between osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and chondrocytes in shaping bone architecture

5. Temporal coordination of growth, patterning, and remodeling across development

6. Genetic and epigenetic regulation of bone form and structural adaptation

7. Developmental and remodeling defects underlying congenital and acquired skeletal disorders

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Bone, Skeletal Morphogenesis, Bone Remodeling, Osteogenesis, Developmental Patterning, Bone Homeostasis

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.