Counting Mature Osteoblasts More Important than it Sounds
Counting Mature Osteoblasts More Important than it Sounds
What is a Mature Osteoblast? � Plump, cuboidal cell located on the surface of a bone. � Builds bone by depositing mineral http: //www. nature. com/ng/journal/v 3 8/n 11/images/ng 1106 -1230 -F 1. jpg
Why are they Important? � Balance with osteoclast activity in healthy bone remodeling � Many research models make changes to mice or other systems that can potentially influence osteoblast/osteoclast activity � Important in all sorts of medical problems, including osteoperosis and various forms of cancer
Current State of the Art � Count by eye at a microscope/computer after staining. ◦ Tedious, boring, error prone, and a waste of personnel resources ◦ Roughly one slide per day for a somewhat experienced operator
So What would be Helpful? � Automated cell detection with at least the accuracy/precision of the human eye (gold standard). � ROI identification (periosteum) with dynamic zoom � “Plumpness index” with experimenter set threshold � Batch processing ◦ Typically experiments will have around 50 slides
Outcome Measures � Percentage/number of osteoblasts that are active compared to inactive � Percentage/length of bone surface that is covered in active v inactive cells ◦ Current dogma (and probably correct) is that whole surface is covered in cells ◦ Currently used somewhat interchangably ◦ Should they be?
Determining subchondral bone thickness
Subchondral bone remodeling in osteoarthritis Subchondral bone thickens in osteoarthritis.
Subchondral bone thickness is critical to OA pathogenesis Two strains of mice LGXSM-6 and LGXSM-33 have obvious differences in subchondral bone thickness following induction of posttraumatic OA.
Challenges with measuring of subchondral bone thickness There is currently no automated way to measure thickness of subchondral bone across all sections of the scanned bone. A potential limitation is with the “by default” differences in subchondral bone thickness from one end of the bone to the other. There is a need to devise methods to measure the subchondral bone efficiently and accurately.
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