Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Craniomaxillofacial Osteocytes.

Purpose Of Review: There is a growing appreciation within the scientific community that cells exhibit regional variation. Whether the variation is attributable to differences in embryonic origin or anatomical location and mechanical loading has not been elucidated; what is clear, however, is that adult cells carry positional information that ultimately affects their functions. The purpose of this review is to highlight the functions of osteocytes in the craniomaxillofacial (CMF) skeleton as opposed to elsewhere in the body, and in doing so gain mechanistic insights into genetic conditions and chemically-induced diseases that particularly affect this region of our anatomy.