Role of nitric oxide and prostaglandins in the bone formation response to mechanical loading.

Nitric oxide and prostaglandins are crucial early mediators in mechanically induced bone formation. They are also responsible for the associated induction of gene expression of c-fos and IGF-1 in osteocytes, key mechanosensory cells in bone. Insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying bone formation has important implications for the maintenance of structural competence of bone.