Micro-computed tomography assessment of the progression of fracture healing in mice.

The mouse fracture model is ideal for research into the pathways of healing because of the availability of genetic and transgenic mice and the ability to create cell-specific genetic mutations. While biomechanical tests and histology are available to assess callus integrity and tissue differentiation, respectively, micro-computed tomography (μCT) analysis has increasingly been utilized in fracture studies because it is non-destructive and provides descriptions of the structural and compositional properties of the callus. However, the dynamic changes of μCT properties that occur during healing are not well defined.

Fracture healing in protease-activated receptor-2 deficient mice.

Protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) provides an important link between extracellular proteases and the cellular initiation of inflammatory responses. The effect of PAR-2 on fracture healing is unknown. This study investigates the in vivo effect of PAR-2 deletion on fracture healing by assessing differences between wild-type (PAR-2(+/+)) and knock-out (PAR-2(-/-)) mice.

Increasing duration of type 1 diabetes perturbs the strength-structure relationship and increases brittleness of bone.

Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) increases the likelihood of a fracture. Despite serious complications in the healing of fractures among those with diabetes, the underlying causes are not delineated for the effect of diabetes on the fracture resistance of bone. Therefore, in a mouse model of T1DM, we have investigated the possibility that a prolonged state of diabetes perturbs the relationship between bone strength and structure (i.