Tgf-Beta Isoforms in Bone Induction

The effects of the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) family on bone formation are well documented, but the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta (β) isoforms are much less studied. The product of 20 years of study, Induction of Bone Formation in Primates: The Transforming Growth Factor-β3 sums up editor Ugo Ripamonti’s research into the osteogenic activity of the three mammalian TGF-β isoforms, particularly in primates. It explores how the mammalian TGF-β isoforms have the potential to shed light on the apparent redundancy of bone induction signaling.

The book unearths the profound and important bone inductive activity of the TGF-β3 isoform. It includes accounts of extensive research in non-human primates from craniofacial tissue regeneration, heterotopic tissue induction, and chapters on periodontal tissue regeneration and synergistic induction of bone formation. It also discusses the future clinical role of the TGF-β isoform, including in human studies.

This book contributes to the fascinating history of BMP and TGF-β research at the intersection of molecular biology, tissue induction, bone regeneration, and craniofacial surgery. It provides a revolutionary awakening to new possibilities in skeletal reconstruction, tissue engineering, and molecular and cellular biology.

Ugo Ripamonti is a leader in the field of tissue induction and differentiation in postnatal osteogenesis. His principal achievement is the demonstration of the induction of bone formation in non-human primate models. In 1994 he was appointed professor at the Medical School University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, leading its newly founded Bone Research Laboratory. He has written more than 200 publications, given more than 120 invited lectures at international symposia, and organized a series of workshops and symposia at the World Biomaterials Congresses and the International Conferences on Bone Morphogenetic Proteins.