Anabolic Bone Gene Pathways

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/276415

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

Osteoporosis is a major health burden resulting from bone fractures in older men and women due to progressive loss of bone and weakening of the skeleton. Although there are currently therapies to reduce bone loss, no current treatment effectively reconstructs lost bone. In this project, which is designed to identify new genes that may in the future be targeted by drugs to reverse osteoporosis, we have identified specific sets of genes that appear to work together to increase bone formation. This proposal is aimed at characterising these genes and the ways in which they work to determine whether they may be good targets for new osteoporosis treatments. We will examine the patterns of these genes in bone. We will also use cell cultures in which bone forming cells develop and function, to determine when the genes are expressed and how they function. We will test the ability of the candidate genes to cause an increase in the amount of bone forming activity in these cell cultures. An increase in bone formation may be caused by an increase in the number bone-forming cells, an increase in the activity of the cells, a decrease in cell death, or a combination of these changes. Each possibility will be tested. This research is important because of the need for new osteoporosis therapies to repair weakened bones. The knowledge resulting from this proposal has the potential to provide an important contribution to skeletal health and thus aged health worldwide.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2004

End Date: 01-01-2006

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $496,500.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Nutritional science

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

age-related skeletal disorders | bone anabolic pathway | bone formation | fragility fracture | osteoblast | osteoporosis | transgenic animals | vitamin D

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