Bone Abstracts

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...

In a recent unbiased transcriptomic study of genes associated with equine osteochondrosis, we identified several novel cartilage genes. The current study was undertaken to determine whether these genes are regulated during chondrocyte hypertrophy, and to identify novel hypertrophy-associated genes for further study in vitro. Gene expression was investigated by quantitative PCR (qPCR) in different zones of growth cartilage microdissected from equine foetal metatarsal b...

see PP167....

The G protein-coupled receptor, protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), is expressed by osteoblasts and required for normal skeletal growth and repair. Prostate cancer (PCa) cells commonly secrete proteolytic activators of PAR2 (including matriptase and kallikrein-related peptidase 4) and frequently form osteogenic metastases in bone. This study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that PAR2 activators released by PCa cells modulate osteo...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is associated with osteoporosis, and dystrophic (dystrophin-deficient) mdx mice show reduced bone mass characterised by decreased mineral apposition and elevated bone resorption. To investigate a potential role of the G-protein-coupled receptor protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR2) in the muscle and bone pathology associated with DMD, we established a colony of PAR2-null-mdx mice. Limb and diaphragm muscles, tibiae and ser...