Thesis (D.Sc.D.)--Boston University, Goldman School of Dental Medicine, 2008 (Dept. of Periodontology and Oral Biology). / Includes bibliographical references: leaves 140-148. / Lysyl oxidases constitute a family of enzymes responsible for the formation of cross
links in collagen and elastin. These enzymes have also been linked to pathological fibrosis.
The importance of collagen in the structural and mechanical properties of bone led us to
investigate the hypothesis that the absence of one or more of these enzymes could lead to a
significant bone phenotype. This phenotype could resemble osteoporosis or diabetic bone
disease. In addition, we tried to overexpress lysyl oxidase proenzyme in vitro. The ability to
produce enough amounts of lysyl oxidase proenzyme and the ability to process it and activate
it could facilitate the development of drugs that control its activity in pathological fibrosis.
Bones from 12-week old mice (8 males and 8 females) with the compound
genotype LOX+/-, LOXLl -/- were analyzed. 5 males of the genotype LOX+/+, LOXLl-/were
also analyzed. 16 wild type mice (8 males and 8 females) were used as controls. μCT
was used to analyze the trabecular and cortical bone morphology of both left femur and L5
vertebrae (n=5). The femora were subsequently subjected to mechanical testing using the
twist failure in torsion. Right femurs (n=5) were used for histology and histromorphometric
analysis. Tibia and fibula (n=5) were used for cross-link analysis. Two way factor ANOV A
with post-hoc Tukey HSD test was used for statistical analysis. A P value of less than 0.05
was used to declare significance. μCT analysis of the trabecular bone in femur distal ... [TRUNCATED]
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/31295 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Alsofi, Loai A. |
| Publisher | Boston University |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | This work is being made available in OpenBU by permission of its author, and is available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the author. |
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