A recent international study opening the possibility of a molecular therapeutic approach for bone diseases associated with vascular damage has had input from WA-based researchers.
Professor Minghao Zheng, Professor of Orthopaedic Research at The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Head of Bone and Brain Axis Research at WA’s Perron Institute contributed to the study published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
Other WA linked contributors were Dr Delin Liu, a recent Perron Institute and UWA PhD graduate supervised by Professor Zheng and now at the National Center for Orthopaedics in the Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, and Dr Lui’s co-supervisor Associate Professor Junjie Gao, also a PhD graduate and research fellow of the Perron Institute and UWA.
“We have discovered a crucial role of osteocytes (bone cells) in the regulation of vascularization (blood vessel development) in bone tissue,” Professor Zheng said.
“Osteocytes form an ‘endfeet’ structure to feed their mitochondria (the cellular powerhouses) into endothelial cells, which line blood vessels.
“Angiogenesis – the formation of new blood vessels – is a key component of bone repair.
“Blood vessels are widely distributed in bone and necessary for bone and bone marrow homeostasis, the set of interactions that result in overall maintenance of bone mass.
“The results of this study are exciting because they provide new insights into the vascular system and its cellular interactions within bone and bone marrow.
“They inspire the potential application of mitochondrial therapy for bone-related diseases.”
Professor Zheng has made significant contributions in the understanding of fundamental bone biology and translating research into industry and commercialisation.
His career has centred on bone and joint research and regenerative medicine. He pioneered the development of collagen scaffolds and cell therapy to treat cartilage, tendon and ligament injury, and he is a global leader in regeneration of tendon and cartilage using a patient’s own stem cells.