Genre: Information/Explanation

Title of Research Survival strategies of bone and cartilage cells Summary of Research Skeletal cells use specialised mechanisms to survive disease , overuse , drug side-effects and ageing hormonal systems . Skeletal health and repair depends on replenishment of ageing cells from precursor stem cells , efficient function of mature cells and adequate life span . Current treatments such as corticosteroids , HRT , bisphosphonates , statins and intermittent PTH affect skeletal cells to different degrees at all of these levels . While much is known about the molecular players that control survival and death in the immune system , brain and in cancer cells , the skeleton remains under studied . This prevents improvements in drug design and hampers development of new therapeutic technologies such as tissue engineering and use of bone marrow stem cells . Promotion of survival of healthy bone cartilage is essential for retaining mobility in an ageing population . This study seeks to provide fundamental understanding of the strategies used by skeletal cells to survive , so that we can harness this knowledge to produce more effective drugs .