Wnt7b expressed by hypertrophic chondrocytes is a stimulatory factor for endochondral ossification that is regulated by Smad4 activity.

Endochondral ossification contributes to longitudinal skeletal growth. Osteoblasts, which are bone-forming cells, appear close to terminally differentiated hypertrophic chondrocytes during endochondral ossification. We established mice with conditional knockout (cKO) of Smad4, an essential co-activator for transforming growth factor ß family signaling. The mice showed a marked increase in bone volume in the metaphysis as a result of increased bone formation by osteoblasts, in which ß-catenin, an effector of canonical Wnt signaling, accumulated. We identified Wnt7b as a factor with increased expression in growth plate cartilage in Smad4 cKO mice. Wnt7b mRNA was expressed in differentiated chondrocytes and suppressed by BMP4 stimulation. Ablation of Wnt7b blunted the increase in bone in adult Smad4 cKO mice and reduced skeletal growth in juvenile mice. Overall, we conclude that Wnt7b is a crucial factor secreted from hypertrophic chondrocytes to initiate endochondral ossification. These results suggest that Smad4-dependent BMP signaling regulates the Wnt7b-ß-catenin axis during endochondral ossification.