Comparative Endocrinology of Bone Biology

Understanding bone biology as it relates to human and animal health is critical for the development of novel therapeutic approaches to various skeletal diseases. We have been using various strategies to study the role of the parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) gene in the commitment of bone marrow stem cells to become bone cells (osteoblasts). Information from these studies could have potential applications in fracture repair, osteoporosis, and cancer-associated bone disease.