Areas of Interest
The major interest of my laboratory is to study the response of
bone cells to implants. Both dental and orthopedic implant
materials are being investigated. We are studying the initial
response of bone cells to biomaterials and the process of
mineralization in an in vitro mineralizing human osteoblast/implant
system.
Another area of investigation is the study of hormone and
growth factor-induced changes in bone cells and apoptosis. We
have developed an organ culture system which produces bone in
vitro and with this system we have been studying glucocorticoid-induced
osteoporosis and the effects of estrogen on bone formation.
We use molecular biology, histology and biochemistry to
address these research projects.
Lab Rotation Projects
Below are descriptions of several projects in my laboratory.
I am also willing to accept students who want to formulate their
own questions related to the work below.
1. The response of human osteoblasts to new orthopaedic
and dental biomaterials is being analyzed. Presently
projects on silk biomaterials and peptide-tethered implants are
underway.
2. Our lab is also interested in the role that osteoblast
apoptosis plays in determining bone formation rates and bone
mass. We have developed a transgenic mouse, Col2.3Bcl-2,
that expresses the human bcl-2 gene, a anti-apoptotic factor, in
bone, targeted to bone through the a1(I) procollagen chain of
Type I collaen. We have found that with age these mice do not
lose bone as is found in their wild-type littermates. Therefore,
we are studying how bcl-2 maintains bone mass in this
anti-aging model.
3. We are also studying the effect of an alternative
medicine therapy, Therapeutic Touch, on the growth and
differentiation of bone cells and osteosarcoma-derived cell
lines. Therapeutic Touch involves the application of
bioenergetic fields from practitioners’ hand. Plates of cells
are treated twice a week for 10 minutes without any touching. We
have found highly significant effects on cell proliferation and
differentiation compared to untreated cells and placebo-treated
cells.
Selected Publications
Gronowicz, G, A. Jhaveri, L.W. Clarke, M.S. Aronow, T.H. Smith,
2008. Therapeutic Touch stimulates the proliferation of human
cells in culture. J Alternative Complementary Medicine; 14(3);
in press.
Sagomonyants, K., M. Jarman-Smith, J. Devine and G. Gronowicz,
2008. The Response of Human Osteoblasts to Polyetheretherketone
(PEEK) Substrates. Biomaterials 29(11):1563-72.
Zhang, W., A. Pantschenko, M.B. McCarthy, and G. Gronowicz,
2007. Bone targeted overexpression of Bcl-2 increases osteoblast
adhesion, differentiation, and inhibits mineralization. Calcif
Tissue Int. 80:111-122.
Kardestuncer, T., M.B. McCarthy, V. Karageorgiou, D. Kaplan
and G. Gronowicz, 2006. RGD-tethered silk substrates stimulate
the differentiation of human tendon cells. Clin. Orthopaedic Rel.
Res. 448:234-239.
Mauney, J.R., L. Abrahamson, C. Kirkeer-Head, G. Gronowicz,
V. Volloch and D. L.Kaplan, 2006. Matrix-mediated retention of
in vitro osteogenic differentiation potential and in vivo
bone-forming capacity by human adult bone marrow-derived
mesenchymal stem cells during ex vivo expansion. J. Biomed Mater
Res A. 79:464-75.
Zhang, H. and G. Gronowicz, 2005. Transforming Growth
Factor-Beta 1(TGF-β1) enhances age-dependent decrease in
mineralization in primary human osteoblast/implant cultures. J.
Biomed Biomat Res. 75A:98-105.62.
Zhang, H., C.G. Lewis, M. Aronow and G. Gronowicz, 2004. The
effect of patient age on human osteoblasts’ responses to implant
materials in vitro J. Orthop. Res.22: 30-50. |
