Speaker:
Associate Professor Christoph Winkler

Synopsis:
Small fish models are widely used in biomedical research to understand how organs form and function, and how defects in genes and proteins lead to human disease. One prominent example is the most frequent bone disease in humans, osteoporosis. Bone is a highly dynamic organ that gets constantly remodeled to maintain rigidity and flexibility. In this process, old and brittle bone is removed by bone-resorbing cells, the osteoclasts, and replaced with new bone produced by bone-forming cells, the osteoblasts. In humans and fish alike, these cell types need to constantly communicate with each other to ensure that correct quantities of bone are replaced. If their communication is disrupted, for example by hormonal changes, this can lead to osteoporosis. Approximately one third of people aged 65 and above are suffering from osteoporosis. These patients have reduced bone density and an increased risk for bone fractures. While medication to slow down bone resorption is available, the currently used therapies often have severe unwanted side effects. Thus, new therapeutic strategies are needed that ideally are based on a better understanding of the biology behind osteoblast-osteoclast communication. In my talk, I will describe how we used a small fish to discover a new molecular pathway that allows osteoblasts to control osteoclast activity. I will describe how this knowledge can be used to develop a new strategy to prevent osteoporosis.

For enquiries, please contact:

Mr Ambert Ang
Phone: +65  65162711
Email: DBS_outreach@nus.edu.sg