Scientists at York University awarded major grant by research charity
SCIENTISTS at York University have been awarded a major grant of £86,108 by leading medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign, to help build up stronger bones in patients with osteoporosis.
The research team, headed by Professor Tim Skerry in the department of biology, will spend the next two years building on an exciting discovery - made in collaboration with scientists at Harvard Medical School in Boston - that bone cells use methods of communication previously thought to occur only between brain cells.
Professor Skerry and his team are trying to come up with methods of preventing bone loss, and to increase bone mass which has been lost as a result of the bone-thinning disease, osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis affects around 4.5 million in the UK, the majority of whom are women.
"The most important function of the skeleton is to support loads, so active individuals need stronger skeletons than couch potatoes. Our skeletons respond to the amount we use them in the same way as muscles," explained Professor Skerry.
"In a tennis player, for example, the serving arm is 30% thicker than the less exercised opposite arm. This response to exercise works well for most of the time, but in later life, particularly in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, the effectiveness of exercise in maintaining bone mass alters - as though some form of mechanical thermostat has been turned down."
Using complex molecular biological techniques, Professor Skerry's group will examine further the methods of communication which exists between bone cells.
"Research is aimed at identifying the early signalling that happens in bone cells when weight is applied to joints, and the understanding of this process could enable us to eavesdrop on the chemical conversations between bone cells, which dictate whether bone should be degraded or synthesised," he added.
The ultimate aim of the project is good news for couch potatoes everywhere - to give patients' bones the benefits of exercise without having to exert themselves.
