Long bones develop by a process called endochondral bone formation, in which a cartilage model is generated and then is replaced with bone (Erlebacher et al., 1995; Cancedda et al., 1995). Endochondral development begins with condensation of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells that prefigure the future skeletal elements. In the core of these condensations, cells differentiate into chondroblasts,...
