Role of PTPs in bone and cartilage cell specification, differentiation, and functional regulation. SHP2’s regulation of articular cartilage anti-degeneration and regeneration. Pathogenesis and treatment of cartilage tumors. Osteoclastogenesis and skeletal remodeling.
Musculoskeletal disorders and diseases that cause bone and cartilage degeneration and mineral loss remain the leading cause of disability, significantly affecting the quality of life. At the cellular level, three types of cells are primarily responsible for building and maintaining healthy bone and cartilage, which are osteoblasts (OB), chondrocytes, and osteoclasts (OC). To date, most of the work done on signaling proteins in bone and cartilage cells has focused on phosphorylation by PTKs, while there has been a minimal investigation of dephosphorylation by PTPs, which conceivably can have equally profound functional consequences. Our laboratory adopts a variety of cutting-edge experimental approaches including live cell lineage tracing, RNAScope®, high-resolution 3-D (µCT) imaging, histology, mutagenesis, genomic and phosphoproteomic analysis, and mass spectrometry in addition to the use of genetically modified animals and their cellular derivatives to study the function of PTP, particularly SHP2 in the skeletal system. Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which the development and function of bone and cartilage cells are regulated will lay a new foundation on which novel therapeutics could be developed to prevent and/or treat skeletal disorders.
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