BETHESDA, MD (NIH) -- Nature Insight: Bone and Cartilage, a special supplement to the journal Nature Medicine, is now available through the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).

The supplement encompasses a range of articles exploring key elements of skeletal biology, an area of special emphasis during the presidentially declared Bone and Joint Decade (2002-2011). Topics include patterning of skeletal structures, bone and cartilage development, the influence of genetics on human skeletal biology, factors that control bone mass, and disease-causing mechanisms in rheumatoid arthritis.

Nature Insight: Bone and Cartilage was produced with support from the NIAMS, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health (NIH). Funding was also provided by the NIH's National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and Office of Research on Women's Health.

For a free copy of the supplement, contact the NIAMS Clearinghouse at 1-877-22-NIAMS (226-4267 (free call). You can also access the publication on the Web at http://www.nature.com/nature/insights/6937.html.