Dataset Information

Application of subject-specific adaptive mechanical loading for bone healing in a mouse tail vertebral defect.

ABSTRACT: Methods to repair bone defects arising from trauma, resection, or disease, continue to be sought after. Cyclic mechanical loading is well established to influence bone (re)modelling activity, in which bone formation and resorption are correlated to micro-scale strain. Based on this, the application of mechanical stimulation across a bone defect could improve healing. However, if ignoring the mechanical integrity of defected bone, loading regimes have a high potential to either cause damage or be ineffective. This study explores real-time finite element (rtFE) methods that use three-dimensional structural analyses from micro-computed tomography images to estimate effective peak cyclic loads in a subject-specific and time-dependent manner. It demonstrates the concept in a cyclically loaded mouse caudal vertebral bone defect model. Using rtFE analysis combined with adaptive mechanical loading, mouse bone healing was significantly improved over non-loaded controls, with no incidence of vertebral fractures. Such rtFE-driven adaptive loading regimes demonstrated here could be relevant to clinical bone defect healing scenarios, where mechanical loading can become patient-specific and more efficacious. This is achieved by accounting for initial bone defect conditions and spatio-temporal healing, both being factors that are always unique to the patient.

SUBMITTER: Malhotra A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7820598 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Application of subject-specific adaptive mechanical loading for bone healing in a mouse tail vertebral defect.

Malhotra Angad A Walle Matthias M Paul Graeme R GR Kuhn Gisela A GA Müller Ralph R

Scientific reports 20210121 1

Methods to repair bone defects arising from trauma, resection, or disease, continue to be sought after. Cyclic mechanical loading is well established to influence bone (re)modelling activity, in which bone formation and resorption are correlated to micro-scale strain. Based on this, the application of mechanical stimulation across a bone defect could improve healing. However, if ignoring the mechanical integrity of defected bone, loading regimes have a high potential to either cause damage or be ...[more]

PMID: 33479260

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Project description:Prolonged reduction in weightbearing causes bone loss. Disuse of bone is associated with recovery from common musculoskeletal injury and trauma, bed rest resulting from various medical conditions, and spaceflight. The hindlimb-suspension rodent model is popular for simulating unloading and disuse. We hypothesized that controlled mechanical loading of the tibia would protect against bone loss occurring from concurrent disuse. Additionally, we hypothesized that areas of high mechanical peak strains (midshaft) would provide more protection than areas of lower strain (distal shaft). Adult C57BL6/J mice were suspended for 3?weeks, with one limb subjected to tibial compression four times per week. ?CT imaging was completed at days 0, 11, and 21, in addition to serum analysis. Significant bone loss caused by hindlimb suspension was detected in trabecular bone by day 11 and worsened by day 21 (p?<?0.05). Bone loss was also detected in cortical thickness and area fraction by day 21. However, four short bouts per week of compressive loading protected the loaded limb from much of this bone loss. At day 21, we observed a 50% loss in trabecular bone volume/total volume and a 6% loss in midshaft cortical thickness in unloaded limbs, but only 15% and 2% corresponding losses in contralateral loaded limbs (p = 0.001 and p = 0.02). Many bone geometry parameters of the loaded limbs of suspended animals did not significantly differ from non-suspended control limbs. Conversely, this protective effect of loading was not detected in cortical bone at the lower-strained distal shaft. Analysis of bone metabolism markers suggested that the benefits of loading occurred through increased formation instead of decreased resorption. This study uniquely isolates the role of externally applied mechanical loading of the mouse tibia, in the absence of muscle stimulation, in protecting bone from concurrent disuse-related loss, and demonstrates that limited bouts of loading may be highly effective during prolonged disuse. © 2019 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Project description:It is estimated that more than 90% of human genes express multiple mRNA transcripts due to alternative splicing. Consequently, the proteins produced by different splice variants will likely have different functions and expression levels. Several genes with splice variants are known in bone, with functions that affect osteoblast function and bone formation. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the extent of alternative splicing in a bone subjected to mechanical loading and subsequent bone formation. We used the rat forelimb loading model, in which the right forelimb was loaded axially for 3 min, while the left forearm served as a non-loaded control. Animals were subjected to loading sessions every day, with 24 h between sessions. Ulnae were sampled at 11 time points, from 4 h to 32days after beginning loading. RNA was isolated and mRNA abundance was measured at each time point using Affymetrix exon arrays (GeneChip® Rat Exon 1.0 ST Arrays). An ANOVA model was used to identify potential alternatively spliced genes across the time course, and five alternatively spliced genes were validated with qPCR: Akap12, Fn1, Pcolce, Sfrp4, and Tpm1. The number of alternatively spliced genes varied with time, ranging from a low of 68 at 12h to a high of 992 at 16d. We identified genes across the time course that encoded proteins with known functions in bone formation, including collagens, matrix proteins, and components of the Wnt/?-catenin and TGF-? signaling pathways. We also identified alternatively spliced genes encoding cytokines, ion channels, muscle-related genes, and solute carriers that do not have a known function in bone formation and represent potentially novel findings. In addition, a functional characterization was performed to categorize the global functions of the alternatively spliced genes in our data set. In conclusion, mechanical loading induces alternative splicing in bone, which may play an important role in the response of bone to mechanical loading.

Project description:The advent of high-throughput measurements of gene expression and bioinformatics analysis methods offers new ways to study gene expression patterns. The primary goal of this study was to determine the time sequence for gene expression in a bone subjected to mechanical loading, during key periods of the bone formation process, including expression of matrix-related genes, the appearance of active osteoblasts, and bone desensitization. A standard model for bone loading was employed in which the right forelimb was loaded axially for three minutes per day, while the left forearm served as a non-loaded, contralateral control. We evaluated loading-induced gene expression over a time course of 4 hours to 32 days after the first loading session. Six distinct, time-dependent patterns of gene expression were identified over the time course and categorized into three primary clusters: genes upregulated early in the time course, genes upregulated during matrix formation, and genes downregulated during matrix formation. Genes were then grouped based on function and/or signaling pathways. Many gene groups known to be important in loading-induced bone formation were identified within the clusters, including AP-1-related genes in the early response cluster, matrix-related genes in the upregulated gene clusters, and Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway inhibitors in the downregulated gene clusters. Several novel gene groups were identified as well, including chemokine-related genes which were upregulated early but downregulated later in the time course, solute carrier genes which were both up- and downregulated, and muscle-related genes which were primarily downregulated. Time Course with 11 time points, each plus & minus mechanical stimulation with 5 replicates per experimental group (except 12d group which has 4 replicates). Daily mechanical loading was applied to the forearm (24 hours between loading sessions), and ulnae were sampled at indicated time points (4h, 12h, 1d, 2d, 4d, 6d, 8d, 12d, 16d, 24d, or 32d).

Dataset Information

Application of subject-specific adaptive mechanical loading for bone healing in a mouse tail vertebral defect.

Publications

Application of subject-specific adaptive mechanical loading for bone healing in a mouse tail vertebral defect.

Similar Datasets

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