Introduction:
Mechanical load significantly affects bone formation, but the molecular pathways linking mechanics and bone development are largely unknown. I propose to fill this gap through a unique combination of (A) gene expression analysis in larval zebrafish under different loading regimes and (B) a detailed analysis of mechanical strains in vivo.
Results:
Expected publishable results:
1.Quantitative analysis of the gene expression in zebrafish subjected to different loading regimes via micro array technology
2.Spatiotemporal analysis of the selected genes in zebrafish subjected to different loading regimes via in situ hybridisations
3.Analysis of strain distribution with biomechanical mechanical model (s) in wildtype zebrafish
4.Correlation between expression pattern of selected genes with distribution of maximum strain amplitude in wildtype zebrafish |
