{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T08:02:43Z","timestamp":1789545763484,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell Dev. Biol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The chondro-osseous junction is commonly described as a site where cartilage is removed and bone is deposited, but this sequence does not explain how matrix topology is relayed into primary trabecular architecture. This review frames the junction as a developmental remodeling front in which cartilage-derived signals, endothelial advance, matrix-processing cell states, temporary scaffold retention, and osteoid deposition overlap in space and time. Mouse perturbation studies support vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A)-dependent entry, endothelial matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9)-mediated cartilage processing, endothelial Delta-like ligand 4 (Dll4)\u2013Notch support of mesenchymal septoclasts, and state-specific interactions between endothelium and osteoclast-lineage cells. Recent evidence further shows that osteoclast-supporting receptor activator of nuclear factor-\u03baB ligand (RANKL) sources change during development and that hypertrophic-chondrocyte Piezo1 modulates the local RANKL\/osteoprotegerin (OPG) balance, arguing against a single, stage-invariant source model. The evidence nevertheless does not yet quantify the relative proteolytic contributions of endothelium and septoclasts or demonstrate that their timing directly specifies three-dimensional trabecular topology. Osteopetrosis, hypophosphatemic rickets, and collagen-X chondrodysplasia illustrate how similar cartilage-retention phenotypes can arise from distinct initiating compartments. A decisive test will require reciprocal, temporally restricted perturbations, activity-resolved imaging, anatomically matched three-dimensional reconstruction, and parallel adjacent-layer rescue. The remodeling-front framework therefore functions as a causal localization model and a set of falsifiable predictions rather than a single established pathway.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcell.2026.1942780","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T07:11:19Z","timestamp":1789542679000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The developmental remodeling front: resorptive cell\u2013vascular coupling at the chondro-osseous junction"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Haocheng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huiying","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhe","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanbo","family":"Ding","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongfang","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiangli","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiabao","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics I, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Zhengzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2085","DOI":"10.2741\/e526","article-title":"Histology of epiphyseal cartilage calcification and endochondral ossification","volume":"4","author":"Amizuka","year":"2012","journal-title":"Front. 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