Effect of COX-2 inhibition on tendon-to-bone healing and PGE2 concentration after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used to reduce pain and inflammation in orthopaedic patients. Selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors have been developed to minimize drug-specific side effects. However, they are suspected to impair both bone and tendon healing.

The cadherin Fat2 is required for planar cell polarity in the Drosophila ovary.

Planar cell polarity is an important characteristic of many epithelia. In the Drosophila wing, eye and abdomen, establishment of planar cell polarity requires the core planar cell polarity genes and two cadherins, Fat and Dachsous. Drosophila Fat2 is a cadherin related to Fat; however, its role during planar cell polarity has not been studied.

Influence of scaffold stiffness on subchondral bone and subsequent cartilage regeneration in an ovine model of osteochondral defect healing.

Background: In osteochondral defects, subchondral bone, as a load-bearing structure, is believed to be important for bone and cartilage regeneration.

Hypothesis: A stiff scaffold creates better conditions for bone formation and cartilage regeneration than does a softer one.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Expression patterns of cadherin genes in Drosophila oogenesis.

In Drosophila oogenesis, the follicular epithelium that envelops the oocyte is patterned by a small set of inductive signals and gives rise to an elaborate three-dimensional eggshell. Several eggshell structures provide sensitive readouts of the patterning signals, but the formation of these structures is still poorly understood. In other systems, epithelial morphogenesis is guided by the spatial patterning of cell adhesion and cytoskeleton genes.

Cad74A is regulated by BR and is required for robust dorsal appendage formation in Drosophila oogenesis.

Drosophila egg development is an established model for studying epithelial patterning and morphogenesis, but the connection between signaling pathways and egg morphology is still incompletely understood. We have identified a non-classical cadherin, Cad74A, as a putative adhesion gene that bridges epithelial patterning and morphogenesis in the follicle cells. Starting in mid-oogenesis, Cad74A is expressed in the follicle cells that contact the oocyte, including the border cells and most of the columnar follicle cells.

Hedgehog and Dpp signaling induce cadherin Cad86C expression in the morphogenetic furrow during Drosophila eye development.

During Drosophila eye development, cell differentiation is preceded by the formation of a morphogenetic furrow, which progresses across the epithelium from posterior to anterior. Cells within the morphogenetic furrow are apically constricted and shortened along their apical-basal axis. However, how these cell shape changes and, thus, the progression of the morphogenetic furrow are controlled is not well understood.

Crushed bone grafts and a collagen membrane are not suitable for enhancing cartilage quality in the regeneration of osteochondral defects--an in vivo study in sheep.

Hyaline joint cartilage has only a limited potential for self-repair. Some of the published techniques for osteochondral defect therapy try to improve that potential. In this study, it was hypothesised that one of those surgical techniques, the crushed transplanted bone graft together with a collagen membrane, accelerates significantly the reconstruction of the subchondral bone plate and improves the mechanical and histological quality of repaired cartilage in osteochondral defects compared to an empty control defect.

Biodegradable composite implants.

Biodegradable implants are established in the field of operative sports medicine. So-called composite implants are increasingly used. The idea to improve biocompatibility and osteoconductivity of biodegradable polymers by modifying them with a ceramic component, has led to the development of these composite implants.

Cadherin Cad99C is required for normal microvilli morphology in Drosophila follicle cells.

Microvilli are actin-filled membranous extensions common to epithelial cells. Several proteins have been identified that localize to microvilli. However, most of these proteins are dispensable for the normal morphogenesis of microvilli.

Cadherin Cad99C is regulated by Hedgehog signaling in Drosophila.

The subdivision of the Drosophila wing imaginal disc into anterior and posterior compartments requires a transcriptional response to Hedgehog signaling. However, the genes regulated by Hedgehog signal transduction that mediate the segregation of anterior and posterior cells have not been identified. Here, we molecularly characterize the previously predicted gene cad99C and show that it is regulated by Hedgehog signaling.