Bone-seeking tumor cells alter bone material quality parameters on the nanoscale in mice.

Bone metastases related to breast and prostate cancer present with multiple challenges and skeletal related events like fragility fractures impair the quality of life of the patients significantly. To determine local alterations in bone material quality with bone metastasis, we subjected murine tibial specimens, generated after intratibial injections of either RM1 prostate cancer cells or EO771 breast cancer cells into male and female mice respectively, to high-resolution imaging modalities. Small and wide-angle X-ray scattering showed unaltered mineral characteristics in the more osteosclerotic prostate cancer model, while the quantification of calcium weight percentage via backscattered electron microscopy determined minor differences along the perilacunar bone matrix.

On the Origins of Fracture Toughness in Advanced Teleosts: How the Swordfish Sword's Bone Structure and Composition Allow for Slashing under Water to Kill or Stun Prey.

The osseous sword of a swordfish () is specialized to incapacitate prey with stunning blows. Considering the sword's growth and maturation pattern, aging from the sword's base to the tip, while missing a mechanosensitive osteocytic network, an in-depth understanding of its mechanical properties and bone quality is lacking. Microstructural, compositional, and nanomechanical characteristics of the bone along the sword are investigated to reveal structural mechanisms accounting for its exceptional mechanical competence.

Severely Impaired Bone Material Quality in Chihuahua Zebrafish Resembles Classical Dominant Human Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

Excessive skeletal deformations and brittle fractures in the vast majority of patients suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) are a result of substantially reduced bone quality. Because the mechanical competence of bone is dependent on the tissue characteristics at small length scales, it is of crucial importance to assess how OI manifests at the micro- and nanoscale of bone. In this context, the Chihuahua (Chi/+) zebrafish, carrying a heterozygous glycine substitution in the α1 chain of collagen type I, has recently been proposed as a suitable animal model of classical dominant OI, showing skeletal deformities, altered mineralization patterns, and a smaller body size.

Conditional mouse models support the role of SLC39A14 (ZIP14) in Hyperostosis Cranialis Interna and in bone homeostasis.

Hyperostosis Cranialis Interna (HCI) is a rare bone disorder characterized by progressive intracranial bone overgrowth at the skull. Here we identified by whole-exome sequencing a dominant mutation (L441R) in SLC39A14 (ZIP14). We show that L441R ZIP14 is no longer trafficked towards the plasma membrane and excessively accumulates intracellular zinc, resulting in hyper-activation of cAMP-CREB and NFAT signaling.