Mechanobiology
The osteocyte is a long-lived, highly dendritic cell forming a vast, interconnected network within the mineralized bone matrix. It has only been over the last couple of decades that cell isolation and imaging techniques have advanced enough to allow deeper study of this most interesting cell. The osteocyte is acknowledged as integral to sensation of changing mechanical forces at the whole bone level (mechanosensation) and has also been identified as the major source of key proteins that modulate osteoblast and osteoclast response to loading (cells that build and resord bone, respectively). However, the mechanisms by which mechanosensation translates to changes in modulating proteins (mechanotransduciton) as well as how these proteins are transported from the osteocyte, embedded within the bone matrix, to the effector cells at the surface and in the marrow space of the bone is poorly understood.
Past work of the BBL has identified unique properties in osteocytes, including robust intracellular Ca2+ oscillations that change in frequency and magnitude with increasing mechanical force, and a dense actin cytoskeleton that contracts with the onset of these calcium spikes. Our current work focuses on identifying the precise mechanism of these Ca2+-dependent contractions as well as uncovering downstream consequences of this phenomenon. The BBL has developed novel in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo systems that focus on different aspects of potential mechanisms to help us answer these questions.
Please click on links below for more in depth descriptions of current projects underway in the lab.