Bone and Muscle Endocrine Functions: Unexpected Paradigms of Inter-organ Communication

Most physiological functions originate with the communication between organs. Mouse genetics has revived this holistic view of physiology through the identification of inter-organ communications that are unanticipated, functionally important, and would have been difficult to uncover otherwise. This Review highlights this point by showing how two tissues usually not seen as endocrine ones, bone and striated muscles, influence several physiological processes in a significant manner.