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Faculty Gloria Gronowicz
Professor
Department of Surgery
gronowicz@nso1.uchc.edu
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. |
