Bone Abstracts

Aim: Lean and bone mass have considerably high phenotypic and genetic correlations with a shared heritability estimate ranging between 30 and 40% in adults. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) on total body lean mass and a bivariate GWAS on lean mass and BMD were ran in a cohort of children to identify genes with pleiotropic effects on muscle mass and peak bone mass attainment.Methods: Subjects are part of the Generation R study, a prospective multiet...

Autosomal dominant type II osteopetrosis (ADO2) is a rare osteosclerotic disorder due to heterozygous missense mutations of CLC7 gene encoding the type 7 chloride channel. Our two labs (L’Aquila and Indianapolis) independently generated the first C57 black 6 (B6) mouse model of ADO2 by inserting the pG213R-clc7 mutation. We created pG213R-clc7 KI mice using a gene targeting approach. Homozygous mice showed lack of tooth eruption and died within ...

Thalassemia is a chronic anemia associate with high rates of osteoporosis. To determine how erythropoiesis leads to bone loss in thalassemia, we used the th3/+ thalassemia mouse to study the role of erythropoietin (EPO) and hematopoietic progenitors (HP), since they are both increased in thalassemia.Methods: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultures and MSC cocultures with various HP from wild type (wt) and th3/+ mice were diff...

Heritability of bone mineral density (BMD) varies at skeletal sites, possibly reflecting different relative contributions of environmental and genetic influences. To quantify shared genetic influences across different sites, we estimated the genetic correlation of BMD at the upper limb (UL), lower limb (LL) and skull (S) obtained from whole body DXA scans, using bivariate genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA). The study (n=9395) combined data from the Avon Longitu...

Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass leading to increased bone fragility and fracture susceptibility. Little is currently known about what specific factors stimulate osteoblast differentiation from human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Therefore, the aim for this project is to determine novel factors and mechanisms involved in human bone production which can be targeted to treat osteoporosis, using gene expression profiling and bioinformati...

Objectives: The Brtl mouse, a unique model for the autosomal dominant forms of osteogenesis imperfecta was used to prove the feasibility of a lentiviral-shRNA-based strategy to improve collagen quality by targeting the mutant Col1a1 allele at the point mutation responsible for the causative substitution Gly349Cys. The ability to specifically suppress the mutant allele should convert the moderate Brtl outcome to the mild one caused by quantitative defect.<p class="...