Final Report Summary - ANABONOS (Molecular mechanisms of bone formation and anabolism)
Osteoporosis is associated with thinning of the bone, and this is most commonly caused by the fact that bone is lost from the skeleton with increasing age. Many drug treatments are available for the prevention of osteoporosis and these mostly act by preventing bone loss. These drugs cannot repair damage to the skeleton that has already taken place however, and because of this, the treatments that are currently available are only partly effective at treating patients with established osteoporosis. There is an urgent need to develop new drugs that can replace bone that has been lost from the skeleton, and this need was addressed by the ANABONOS project.
The project defined downstream effectors of molecules which regulate bone formation in mice and define signalling pathways that are activated in human genetic diseases characterised by increased bone formation. The mechanisms of action for drugs with known anabolic effects were investigated and novel genes which regulate bone formation uncovered by END mutagenesis and genetic mapping in mice. Finally, a technology based on Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was developed to study anabolic effects in osteoblasts in response to mechanical force and anabolic agents.
This project aimed to lead to a greater understanding of how bone formation is regulated and will underpin the development of new therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.