Bone Abstracts

Bone remodeling is the key process in bone structural reorganization, and its alterations lead to changes in bone mechanical strength. Since osteons reflect different bone remodeling patterns, we hypothesize that the femoral cortex of females with miscellaneous age, disease, and treatment conditions will display distinct osteonal morphology and osteocyte lacunar numbers along with different mechanical properties.The specimens used in this study were coll...

The clinical orthopaedic problem of delayed healing or non-union after complex fractures affects 5–10% of all patients, especially within the elderly population. Recently several in vitro studies showed that CD133+ cells bare angiogenic capacities and contribute to a better outcome concerning ischemia induced angiogenesis in vivo. A local administration of these specific cells to the fracture gap appears feasible as a new treatment option for biological ...

Childhood obesity is a serious global public health problem, reaching 40% of children in developed countries. While the connection between under-nutrition and growth retardation is well documented, the opposite connection between over-nutrition and bone development was barely studied. Obese children grow faster in height than normal-weighed children, and prospective studies demonstrated an over-presentation of obese children amongst fracture cases. Yet, the cellular and molecu...

Osteosarcoma, the main malignant primary bone tumor, affects a ‘young’ population composed of children and young adults. Current treatment consists of tumor resection associated with chemotherapy. Unfortunately in many cases, a lack of response to anti-tumor drugs is observed, leading to development of metastases and to the patient’s death. Because TGF-β promotes metastases from many solid epithelial tumors, we investigated the effect of inhibitory Smad7 ov...

Aging is a complex process that results in the decline of physiologic functions due to accumulation of damage in cells and tissues. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) counteract this decline but their regeneration capacity decreases with age. In particular osteogenic differentiation potential of MSCs has been shown to decrease with age thereby contributing to slowed down bone formation and osteoporosis. While much is known about cellular aging of MSCs, little is known about factors...

Background: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a rare connective tissue disorder caused by mutation in the gene encoding the extracellular matrix protein fibrillin-1 (FBN1), leading to transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling dysregulation. Although decreased axial and peripheral bone mineral density (BMD) has been reported in adults with MFS, data about the evolution of bone mass during childhood and adolescence are limited.Objectives: The aim of th...

While the connection between under-nutrition and growth retardation is well documented, the opposite connection between over-nutrition and bone development was barely studied. For instance, obese children grow faster in height than normal-weighed children, and prospective studies demonstrated an over-presentation of obese children amongst fracture cases. Furthermore, little is known about the direct effect and the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of the diet or sin...

During aging bone resorption often increases while bone formation decreases, thereby reducing bone mass and bone mineral density (BMD) and leading to osteoporosis. Evidence suggests that extrinsic factors may influence bone remodeling. While poorly understood, these mechanisms may function by inducing epigenomic programs that diminish the bone forming capacity of osteoblasts. This study is part of a bi-national consortium aimed at uncovering epigenomic networks controlling the...

Objectives: A heterozygous missense mutation p. C218G in WNT1 was recently identified as the cause of severe primary osteoporosis (Laine et al., New engl J Med 2013). The mutation has thus far been identified in two large Finnish families presenting with dominantly inherited, early-onset osteoporosis, with affected adult patients showing reduced bone mineral density (BMD), vertebral compression fractures, kyphosis and height loss. This study examined characte...

Early-onset primary osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and increased tendency to fractures in young people. Studies on rare bone diseases, such as osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), have identified several new genes associated with early-onset skeletal fragility. This study aimed to explore the role of variation in the cartilage-associated protein (CRTAP) gene in early-onset osteoporosis and/or recurrent fractures. We first used homozygosity ma...