Bone Abstracts

The Wnt pathway engages both canonical and non-canonical signalling to accomplish a salutary benefit of increased bone mass, as evidenced by the presence of individuals with high bone mass, who exhibit specific functional variants in members of the pathway. This talk will highlight the importance of the influence on Wnt signalling being received by the bone in response to loading and the signals emanating from bone that influence overall metabolism and health in the whole animal.

The talk will focus on the microenvironment immediately surrounding the bone, both at the periosteum and the endosteum as it prepares to orchestrate the maintenance of bone mass during aging and in the context of bone healing or fracture repair as a result of trauma. The Wnt pathway has distinct effects on bone derived mesenchymal stem cells in terms of affecting their cell fate leading to adipogenesis, chondrogenesis and osteogenesis. Furthermore, access to pluripotent satellite cells from injured muscle near the periosteum in the context of bone and muscle trauma, may also provide additional opportunity to influence myogenesis. The talk will highlight the importance of the bone microenvironment in the context of aging and repair from trauma. It will also discuss some new ideas on the consequences of Wnt signalling, as factors derived from bone influence broader metabolism within the whole body.