| Bone homeostasis is a dynamic balance process between bone resorption and bone formation. The imbalance and dysfunction of bone homeostasis are the basis for a variety of bone disorders, including osteoporosis and osteosclerosis. Previous studies have confirmed that several signaling pathways are involved in the regulation of osteoblast/osteoclast function and bone homeostasis, such as Wnt, BMP, PTH/PTHrP, Notch, and Hedgehog signal pathways, in which the role of Wnt signal pathway is particularly critical and important. Taking this as a starting point, this review briefly describes the mechanism of Wnt signal transduction and its regulation on the function of osteoblasts/osteoclasts, and then discusses the human bone diseases related to the functional activity of this signal pathway. Then, the transgenic mouse model is used to study the Wnt signal pathway in order to further understand the role of key signal molecules β-catenin, Wnt ligand, and Wnt receptor in osteoblast differentiation and function. Finally, we make a summary and prospect of this signal pathway as a target for the treatment of related low bone mass bone diseases. |