Ossicle and vossicle implant model systems | JoVE Visualize

Area of Science:

Skeletal Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering
Oncology and Cancer Biology

Background:

Bone regeneration is crucial for skeletal therapies, requiring effective models to study therapeutic agents and mechanisms.
Investigating tumor cell-bone interactions within the skeletal metastatic microenvironment necessitates well-defined and controllable experimental systems.
Current models often lack the ability to rapidly assess bone growth and cellular dynamics in response to various manipulations.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and describe novel ectopic ossicle and vossicle models for studying bone regeneration and cellular interactions.
To provide a platform for comparing mesenchymal and hematopoietic elements in bone repair and regeneration.
To facilitate the evaluation of bone-tumor microenvironments using these adaptable models.

Main Methods:

Development of an ectopic ossicle model based on bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs).
Creation of a vossicle model using neonatal vertebral bone transplants.
Utilizing multiple implants per mouse for analyses including histomorphometry, micro-CT, gene expression, and cell tracking (e.g., luciferase).
Incorporation of cancer cells into models to study the bone-tumor microenvironment.

Main Results:

The ossicle and vossicle models provide focused and rapid feedback on bone growth and bone-cellular interactions.
These models allow for the comparison of donor-derived mesenchymal and host-derived hematopoietic elements.
The models are amenable to pharmacological or genetic manipulation and integration with other cell types, such as cancer cells.

Conclusions:

The novel ossicle and vossicle models offer versatile and efficient systems for investigating bone regeneration, repair, and skeletal pathologies.
These models facilitate detailed mechanistic studies of bone biology and the skeletal metastatic microenvironment.
The adaptability of these models supports diverse research applications, from therapeutic agent screening to cancer metastasis research.