Appearance and location of secondary ossification centres may be explained by a reaction–diffusion mechanism

Abstract

We present here a mathematical model of chondrocytes hypertrophy, regulated by molecular factors, able to predict the onset of secondary ossification centres during long bones development. From the results obtained, we can conclude that the chemical feedback between two reactive molecular factors through a reaction–diffusion mechanism could explain the stable spatial pattern found in the origination of secondary ossification centres, as well as the dependency of such a pattern on the size and shape of the bone head, in line with what has been observed in different animals.