Bone tissue is continuously remodeled through the concerted actions of bone cells, which include bone resorption by osteoclasts and bone formation by osteoblasts. The equilibrium between bone formation and resorption is necessary and depends on the action of several local and systemic factors including hormones, cytokines, chemokines, and biomechanical stimulation. An imbalance between bone resorption and formation can result in bone diseases including osteoporosis. Osteoblasts are the main functional cells of bone formation and are responsible for the synthesis, secretion and mineralization of bone matrix. Osteoblasts undergo four stages of osteoblast proliferation, extracellular matrix maturation, extracellular matrix mineralization, and osteoblast apoptosis during bone formation. Many factors are involved in these stages to ultimately regulate bone formation.

Multiple signaling pathways were found to be involved in osteogenic proliferation and differentiation. Among them, BMP-SMAD, Wnt/β-Catenin, Notch, Hedgehog, MAPK, and FGF signaling pathways play the most critical roles in regulating osteogenic differentiation. Osteogenesis Compound Library from TargetMol collects 317 osteogenesis related bioactive compounds that can be used for research in bone formation and drug screening.