Bone Abstracts

Objectives: The skeleton is not a single functional unit but consists of different, well-organized and mineralized compartments with specific functions, developmental aspects and regulations. Differences in the regulation of spinal and long bone elongation are mirrored clinically by the age course in body proportions. Whereas growth plates (GPs) in long bones can easily be discriminated, vertebral GPs are part of the cartilaginous endplate, which typically shows important spec...

Background: Disturbance of systemic phosphate homeostasis is often associated with musculoskeletal dysfunction. Multiple factors related to the underlying condition such as calcium levels and endocrine mechanisms are thought to contribute. Distinct effects of inorganic phosphate itself as well as its main regulator FGF23 by activation of similar pathways have been shown in several cell types. We are not aware of any detailed investigations into their effect on the differentiat...

Objective: Linear growth is achieved by enchondral ossification in epiphyseal growth plates (GP) of long bones. These highly organized cartilaginous tissues contain chondrocytes of all differentiational stages classified in 3–5 specific zones. Due to their discrete characteristics, distinct analysis of each zone is essential in basic GP research. While the efficiency of zonal separation is therefore highly influencing on study results, comparative data on commonly used me...