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Overview
Jeffrey Baron's Section on Growth and Development investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing longitudinal bone growth in childhood. Baron has developed a novel technique that allows quantitative assessment of gene expression within individual zones of the growth plate. This approach, combined with functional studies, has provided evidence that a bonemorphogenetic signaling gradient across the growth plate provides a key mechanism for chondrocyte differentiation. Analogous studies have provided insight into the roles of fibroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor signaling in the spatial and temporal regulation of growth plate chondrogenesis.