Learning on a Limb: An outreach module to engage high school students in orthopaedics.

Orthopaedic researchers need new strategies for engaging underrepresented minority (URM) students. Our field has demonstrated noticeable gaps in racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, which inhibit our ability to innovate and combat the severe socioeconomic burden of musculoskeletal disorders. Towards this goal, we designed, implemented, and evaluated Learning on a Limb (LoaL), an orthopaedic research outreach module to teach URM high school students about orthopaedic research.

Learning on a Limb: An outreach module to engage high school students in orthopaedics.

Orthopaedic researchers need new strategies for engaging diverse students. Our field has demonstrated noticeable gaps in racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, which inhibit our ability to innovate and combat the severe socioeconomic burden of musculoskeletal disorders. Towards this goal, we designed, implemented, and evaluated Learning on a Limb, an orthopaedic research outreach module to teach diverse high school students about orthopaedic research.

Distinct Responses of Modeling- and Remodeling-Based Bone Formation to the Discontinuation of Intermittent Parathyroid Hormone Treatment in Ovariectomized Rats.

Anabolic agents, such as intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH), exert their treatment efficacy through activation of two distinct bone formation processes, namely, remodeling-based bone formation (RBF, bone formation coupled with prior bone resorption) and modeling-based bone formation (MBF, bone formation without prior activation of bone resorption). However, if not followed by an antiresorptive agent, treatment benefit was quickly lost upon withdrawal from anabolic agents. By using in vivo micro-computed tomography imaging and multiplex cryohistology with sequential immunofluorescence staining, we investigated the temporal response of newly formed bone tissue from MBF and RBF and the preexisting bone tissue to withdrawal from PTH treatment and the associated cellular activity in an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model.

Instrumented nanoindentation in musculoskeletal research.

Musculoskeletal tissues, such as bone, cartilage, and muscle, are natural composite materials that are constructed with a hierarchical structure ranging from the cell to tissue level. The component differences and structural complexity, together, require comprehensive multiscale mechanical characterization. In this review, we focus on nanoindentation testing, which is used for nanometer to sub-micrometer length scale mechanical characterization.

Activation, development, and attenuation of modeling- and remodeling-based bone formation in adult rats.

Activation of modeling-based bone formation (MBF - bone formation without prior activation of bone resorption), has been identified as an important mechanism by which anabolic agents, such as intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH), rapidly elicit new bone formation. Using a novel cryohistology imaging platform, coupled with sequential multicolor fluorochrome injections, we demonstrated that MBF and remodeling-based bone formation (RBF) in the adult rat tibia model have similar contributions to trabecular bone homeostasis. PTH treatment resulted in a 2.

Tuning Thermal Dosage to Facilitate Mesenchymal Stem Cell Osteogenesis in Pro-Inflammatory Environment.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells that can replicate and differentiate to different lineages, potentiating their use as integral components in regenerated mesenchymal tissues. Our previous work and other studies have indicated that mild heat shock enhances osteogenesis. However, the influence of pro-inflammatory cytokines on osteogenic differentiation during mildly elevated temperature conditions remains to be fully explored.

HMGB1 redox during sepsis.

During sepsis, the alarmin HMGB1 is released from tissues and promotes systemic inflammation that results in multi-organ damage, with the kidney particularly susceptible to injury. The severity of inflammation and pro-damage signaling mediated by HMGB1 appears to be dependent on the alarmin's redox state. Therefore, we examined HMGB1 redox in kidney cells during sepsis.

Low birth weight is associated with impaired murine kidney development and function.

BackgroundLow birth weight (LBW) neonates have impaired kidney development that leaves them susceptible to kidney disease and hypertension during adulthood. The study here identifies events that blunt nephrogenesis and kidney development in the murine LBW neonate.MethodsWe examined survival, kidney development, GFR, gene expression, and cyto-/chemokines in the LBW offspring of malnourished (caloric and protein-restricted) pregnant mice.

Exocytosis of Endothelial Lysosome-Related Organelles Hair-Triggers a Patchy Loss of Glycocalyx at the Onset of Sepsis.

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory syndrome induced by bacterial infection that can lead to multiorgan failure. Endothelial surface glycocalyx (ESG) decorating the inner wall of blood vessels is a regulator of multiple vascular functions. Here, we tested a hypothesis that patchy degradation of ESG occurs early in sepsis and is a result of exocytosis of lysosome-related organelles.