Bone Abstracts

Strontium ranelate (SrRan) is an efficient treatment for osteoporosis, because SrRan both inhibits osteoclasts and stimulates osteoblastic bone formation. We have previously shown that SrRan also affects mouse osteocyte signaling towards osteoclast precursors and mature osteoblasts. This study assessed the effect of SrRan on paracrine signaling from mechanically-stimulated human osteocytes towards mesenchymal stem cells.Human primary bone cells, used as ...

Osteocytes make up >90% of bone cells, are embedded in mineralised matrix where they form a communication network. Osteocytes differentiate from osteoblasts, and are mechano-sensitive. They are very difficult to isolate with a dependence on cell lines for in vitro studies of osteocyte biology. Therefore new methods to study these cells are essential. Recent publications indicate that osteoblasts maintained in in vitro 3D collagen gels may differentiate to...

Formation and growth of long bones occur through the process of endochondral ossification, which depends on proliferation and hypertrophy of chondrocytes in growth cartilage. In a subtractive hybridization study of equine cartilage, we recently identified a number of genes, the roles of which in growth cartilage have not been characterized. A subset of these genes was found to be differentially expressed between the zones of equine growth cartilage. The genes encoding ATPase H...

Calcium represents one of the most versatile and universal signalling particles regulating many different cellular processes. Changes in [Ca2+]i give rise to a vast diversity of modulatory events, amongst others, influencing activities of kinases and ion channels.It was demonstrated that nuclear magnetic resonance therapy (NMRT) treatment in osteoarthritis led to reduced pain and improved function followed by increase in quality of ...

Introduction: Using transgenic mice ectopically expressing Hoxa2 all along chondrogenesis, we previously associated the resulting animal phenotype to human idiopathic proportionate short stature. Our analysis showed that this overall size reduction was due to a negative influence of Hoxa2 in the very first step of endochondral ossification. As the molecular pathways underlying this pathogenesis are still unknown, we here tried to identify the impact of Hoxa2 overexpression on ...

Background: Cartilage matrix breakdown in osteoarthritis (OA) is due to mechanical stress and inflammation leading to increased metalloproteinases (MMPs) production. Currently, IL1β is thought to have a major role in this process. IL1β is synthesized as an inactive precursor, which is cleaved into the secreted active form. This maturation process mainly occurs in the inflammasome complex. Inflammasome is constituted by initiators (including NALP3) and adaptor molecul...

Indoxyl sulfate (IS) is one of a number of protein-bound uremic toxins that accumulate in patients with chronic kidney disease. Current conventional hemodialysis is ineffective at removing this toxin. Although IS may impair osteoblast function and induce abnormalities of bone turnover or arthropathy, the effects on knee joint tissue by IS has not been investigated yet. The present studies have been carried out to test the IS effects on synovial fibroblasts, meniscal fibrochond...

Microgravity causes adverse health problems to astronauts during space flight, especially to bone, heart, and muscles. The vascular system plays a central role in various organs and the skeletal tissues. This new environment makes vascular adaptation difficult. Nitric oxide plays an essential role in the vascular system by modulating basal vascular tone. An alteration of NO metabolism or bioavailability has been thought to be one of the main factors for vascular disorders. Res...

The musculoskeletal system experiences severe mechanical strain, with repetitive or extreme strains causing significant trauma; the result being an increase in mechanobiological studies evaluating mechanical strain on musculoskeletal cells. Currently, most stretching studies utilise fibronectin-coated cultures, as these enhance cell attachment. However, recent studies suggest that fibronectin increases cell turnover and DNA damage and affects cell differentiation. Furthermore,...

BA058 is being developed as an anabolic therapy for the treatment of osteoporosis. Daily BA058 SC injection has produced promising safety and efficacy results in early clinical studies, and is currently enrolling in a Phase 3 fracture prevention study. There is, however, a significant need for an alternative to injection that improves patient convenience and compliance. We have investigated the use of a solid Microstructured Transdermal System (3M) for transdermal (TD) deliver...