Fall 2006 Bone Seminar Series
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Tuesday September 12, 2006:
Philipp Mayer-Kuckuk, PhD: “Strategies for Imaging Bone Cell Biology in Mice and Man”
Tuesday October 17 , 2006:
Rochelle Buffenstein, PhD: “Age-Related Changes in Bone Metabolism in the Longest-Living Rodent, the Naked Mole-Rat”
Tuesday November 14, 2006:
Elizabeth Shane, MD: “Bone Quality in Premenopausal Women with Unexplained Fragility Fractures”
Tuesday December 5 , 2006:
Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD: “Tissue Engineering of Large, Mineralized Bone Constructs Using Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells”
Tuesday September 12, 2006 Bone Seminar
CUNY Graduate Center, Room C205, 7:00 PM
Click here for directions to the CUNY Graduate Center
Speaker: Philipp Mayer-Kuckuk, PhD, In Vivo Cellular Molecular Imaging Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Host: J. Chris Fritton, PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Topic: Strategies for Imaging Bone Cell Biology in Mice and Man
Abstract
Bone is a highly complex tissue. It is composed of cells such as the complementing osteoblasts and osteoclasts as well as organic macromolecules and mineral. Physiologically relevant studies of cell-cell and cell-structure interactions within this composite tissue often demand in vivo observations. To this end we have proposed the application of a novel investigation strategy called Molecular Imaging. We suggest that this method may allow for the non-invasive detection and measurement of biological pathways in a living subject and we are among the institutions pioneering this approach for orthopedic research. This presentation will provide an overview of several of our upcoming studies that will utilize advanced molecular imaging for the study of bone cell biology. Over the course of the talk, I will introduce molecular imaging, discuss the reporter gene imaging concept, outline GAIM: Genetically Altered and Imaging Competent Mice, and describe SIM: Small Imaging Molecules which may allow future clinical application of orthopedic molecular imaging.
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Tuesday October 17 , 2006 Bone Seminar
CUNY Graduate Center, Room C205, 7:00 PM
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Speaker: Rochelle Buffenstein, PhD and Yael Grun-Kramer, Department of Biology, The City College of New York
(Above: 15-year-old pregnant breeding female mole-rat.)
Host: Robert J. Majeska, PhD, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Topic: Age-Related Changes in Bone Metabolism in the Longest-Living Rodent, the Naked Mole-Rat
Dr. Buffenstein’s Research Interests: “I am a comparative physiologist primarily interested in understanding the tremendous variability in maximum lifespan among species and the proximate mechanisms employed in aging. I currently am studying both age-related changes in physiological function in the longest-living rodent, the naked mole-rat as well as oxidative stress and other mechanisms of aging in rodents that show disparate longevity.”
Abstract
Naked mole-rats are the longest-living rodent known, living eight times longer than similar-sized mice and exhibiting a similar longevity quotient (the ratio of actual lifespan to that predicted by body mass) to humans. These highly social rodents, unlike most mammals appear to retain the ability to reproduce throughout their long-lives lives. Age-related changes in body composition, metabolism and physiological function are markedly attenuated suggesting that rates of aging are retarded; however the mechanisms protecting naked mole-rats from the ubiquitous aging process and concomitant age-related diseases are unknown. As aging occurs, the efficiency of bones to respond to endogenous and environmental stresses declines such that bone remodeling is attenuated. This may result in a net loss of bone mineral content and increase risk of fracture that contributes to the increase in frailty as all mammals age and ultimately leads to their demise. Mechanisms employed in bone aging are not well understood and there is a constant search for a more appropriate mammalian laboratory model for assessing bone aging. Given their long lifespan, we would expect that these rodents, unlike mice, would require protection of bone integrity and would employ highly efficient bone remodeling processes. Specifically, we hypothesize that as aging occurs bone quality and structure in the naked mole-rat will be retained, and that bone remodeling efficacy would be superior to that of mice. Cross sectional femur geometry data reveal that naked mole-rats maintain thicker cortical bone than do mice and that age-related declines in cortical bone was very small. This appears to be most pronounced in breeding females. Furthermore, considerable evidence reveals that these rodents continuously remodel their trabecular bone and maintain structural integrity throughout their long lives. Clearly, given these features, naked mole-rats may prove to be a useful model with which to study changes in bone with aging as well as the mechanisms that facilitate bone protection in long-lived mammals.
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Tuesday November 14, 2006 Bone Seminar:
CUNY Graduate Center, Room C205, 7:00 PM
Click here for directions to the CUNY Graduate Center
Speaker: Elizabeth Shane, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia Univeristy
Host: X. Edward Guo, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
Topic: Bone Quality in Premenopausal Women with Unexplained Fragility Fractures
Dr. Shane’s Research Interests: Osteoporosis, secondary osteoporosis (organ transplantation, GI tract disease, medications), renal bone disease, hyperparathyroidism
Abstract
In this presentation, I will consider the causes of osteoporosis in premenopausal women and will review the results of recently published and ongoing studies focused on the pathogenesis of bone fragility in young, otherwise healthy women with unexplained fragility fractures, including static and dynamic quantitative histomorphometry, micro-CT, and mineralization density.
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Tuesday December 5, 2006 Bone Seminar:
CUNY Graduate Center, Room 9204, 7:00 PM
Click here for directions to the CUNY Graduate Center
Speaker: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
Host: X. Edward Guo, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
Topic: Tissue Engineering of Large, Mineralized Bone Constructs Using Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
(Above: Micro-CT images of engineered human bone: 5 weeks of bioreactor cultivation.)
Dr. Vunjak-Novakovic’s Research Interests: Tissue engineering of functional human grafts for clinical application and controlled studies of normal and pathological cell and tissue function. Our general approach is to use human stem cells (adult or embryonic) and culture them on three-dimensional scaffolds (designed to mimic the native tissue matrix) in bioreactors (designed to provide developmentally relevant molecular and physical regulatory factors). Two groups of tissues are of great interest to our lab: osteochondral (cartilage, bone, anatomically shaped stratified grafts) and cardiac (synchronously contractile cardiac muscle).
Abstract
Human bone marrow contains a population of mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) capable of forming several types of mesenchymal tissues, including bone and cartilage. In vitro expansion and cultivation of hMSC on biomaterial scaffolds could facilitate osteochondral repair, where functional autologous cartilage/bone constructs would be grown and subsequently implanted into the defect site to promote healing. In this talk, I will discuss tissue engineering and animal studies of large, mineralized bone constructs and osteochondral grafts by bioreactor cultivation of hMSC on three-dimensional scaffolds. Under best culture conditions, the volume fractions of mineralized tissue came into the range of values measured for human lumbar verterbral bone.
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