About the project
The project aim at describing the relationship between adipokines and mechanical properties of bone, and characterize possible autocrine and paracrine effects of adipokines on growth and differentiation of osteoblast and osteoclast, and bone remodelling in vivo.
Adipokines, like leptin, adiponectin and resitsin, have been considered to be expressed and secreted exclusively by the adipose tissue, and is reported to in influence energy homeostasis. It is known that body weight is positively correlated with increased bone mineral density and decreased fracture risk, and we have demonstrated the expression of leptin, adiponectin and resistin in bone forming cells. The role of these adipokines in bone metabolism still remains unclear and understanding their role in regulating bone growth is one of the major aims in the project. Understanding the role of these signal molecules might tell us how the close relation between metabolism, body weight and bone density is regulated both at the tissue and the body level.
Financing
The project has received support from UiO, The Norwegian Cancer Foundation and The Norwegian research Council. Leptin has been supplied by Amgen
Cooperation
- Prof. Unni Syversen and postdoc Kamilla Stunes. Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Prof. Malcolm L. Snead and Prof. Michael L. Paine, Centre for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, The Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA