Mineralized Tissue Laboratory

The Mineralized tissue Laboratory conducts studies on the mechanisms of biologic calcification in health and disease and on the changes that occur in mineralized tissues during development and aging. Research methods include cell culture, x-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, FTIR microspectroscopy and imaging and AFM-IR, micro-computed tomography, TEM and SEM, along with techniques of cell and molecular biology, histology, image analyses and solution chemistry.

Current investigations are focused on treatments for osteoporosis and osteogenesis imperfect. Specific questions being asked include:

  • Does the loss of heterogeneity seen in osteoporotic patients’ bone biopsy impact mechanical strength?
  • Does the “drug holiday” correct the abnormalities introduced by long term bisphosphonate treatment?
  • Does the heterogeneity observed at the micron level exist at the nano-level?
  • How do current therapies for osteoporosis affect tissue composition and heterogeneity?
  • What are the compositional and microstructural changes produced in different models of osteogenesis imperfect as a function of age and sex?
  • Which therapies improve the properties of mice with osteogenesis imperfect such that they resemble normal age-matched controls?
  • What is the significance of collagen mutations for initial mineral nucleation?
  • What role do noncollagenous proteins have in the initial nucleation and growth of bone mineral?

 

Representative Publications

  • Bargman R, Posham R, Boskey A, Carter E, DiCarlo E, Verdelis K, Raggio C. Pleshko N. High- and low-dose OPG-Fc cause osteopetrosis-like changes in infant mice. Pediatr Res. 2012 Nov;72(5):495-501. doi: 10.1038/pr.2012.118.
     
  • Boskey AL, Verdelis K, Spevak L, Lukashova L, Beniash E, Yang X, Cabral WA, Marini JC. Mineral and matrix changes in Brtl/+ teeth provide insights into mineralization mechanisms. Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:295812.
     
  • Burket J, Gourion-Arsiquaud S, Havill LM, Baker SP, Boskey AL, van der Meulen MC. Microstructure and nanomechanical properties in osteons relate to tissue and animal age. J Biomech. 2011 Jan 1;44(2):277-84.
     
  • Coleman RM, Aguilera L, Quinones L, Lukashova L, Poirier C, Boskey A. Comparison of bone tissue properties in mouse models with collagenous and non-collagenous genetic mutations using FTIRI. Bone. 2012 Nov;51(5):920-8.
     
  • Curtis Marcott a,d,⇑, Michael Lo b, Qichi Hub, Kevin Kjoller b, Adele Boskey c, Isao Noda Using 2D correlation analysis to enhance spectral information available 4 from highly spatially resolved AFM-IR spectra. J Mol Strr, 2014, in press.
     
  • Donnelly E, Meredith DS, Nguyen JT, Gladnick BP, Rebolledo BJ, Shaffer AD, Lorich DG, Lane JM, Boskey AL. Reduced cortical bone compositional heterogeneity with bisphosphonate treatment in postmenopausal women with intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures. J Bone Miner Res. 2012 Mar;27(3):672-8.
     
  • Gourion-Arsiquaud S, Lukashova L, Power J, Loveridge N, Reeve J, Boskey AL. Fourier transform infrared imaging of femoral neck bone: reduced heterogeneity of mineral-to-matrix and carbonate-to-phosphate and more variable crystallinity in treatment-naive fracture cases compared with fracture-free controls. J Bone MinerRes. 2013 Jan;28(1):150-61.
     
  • Reumann MK, Strachna O, Lukashova L, Verdelis K, Donnelly E, Boskey AL, Mayer-Kuckuk P. Early growth response gene 1 regulates bone properties in mice. Calcif Tissue Int. 2011 Jul;89(1):1-9.
     
  • Tsay J, Yang Z, Ross FP, Cunningham-Rundles S, Lin H, Coleman R, Mayer-Kuckuk P, Doty SB, Grady RW, Giardina PJ, Boskey AL, Vogiatzi MG. Bone loss caused by iron overload in a murine model: importance of oxidative stress. Blood. 2010 Oct 7;116(14):2582-9
     
  • Verdelis K, Lukashova L, Atti E, Mayer-Kuckuk P, Peterson MG, Tetradis S,Boskey AL, van der Meulen MC. MicroCT morphometry analysis of mouse cancellous bone: intra- and inter-system reproducibility. Bone. 2011 Sep;49(3):580-7.
     
  • Vogiatzi MG, Tsay J, Verdelis K, Rivella S, Grady RW, Doty S, Giardina PJ, Boskey AL. Changes in bone microarchitecture and biomechanical properties in the th3 thalassemia mouse are associated with decreased bone turnover and occur during the period of bone accrual. Calcif Tissue Int. 2010 Jun;86(6):484-94.

Laboratory Personnel

Faculty