Bone loss and reduced bone mass, which is commonly associated with diseases such as osteoporosis, arthritis, most cancers of the bone and transfusion-dependent thalassemia, leave patients at a high risk of fractures, pain, and other serious problems. The Bone, Joint and Cancer Group is working to identify the pathways required to build bone and limit bone destruction, as well as understand how the cells in the bone microenvironment communicate with each other. The group hopes these findings will assist in the identification of new ways to promote bone formation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Projects

• Transfusion-dependent thalassemia and bone disease
• Spread of cancers to bone
• Apo2L/TRAIL as a regulator of cell death in transformed cells
• Prevention of bone loss
• Factors affecting osteoblast differentiation

Research Group

• Dr Phillip Wong, Research Scientist
• Dr Anne Trinh, PhD Student

Selected publications

• Quinn JMW, Sims NA, Saleh H, Mirosa D, Thompson K, Bouralexis S, Walker EC, Saleh H, Martin TJ, Gillespie MT (2008) Interleukin-23 inhibits osteoclastogenesis indirectly through lymphocytes and is required for the maintenance of bone mass in mice. Journal of Immunology 181:5720-5729.

• Quinn JM, Tam S, Sims NA, Saleh H, McGregor NE, Poulton IJ, Scott JW, Gillespie MT, Kemp BE, van Denderen BJ (2010) Germline deletion of AMP-activated protein kinase beta subunits reduces bone mass without altering osteoclast differentiation or function. FASEB Journal 24:275-285.

• Saleh H, Eeles D, Hodge JM, Nicholson GC, Gu R, Pompolo S, Gillespie MT, Quinn JM (2011) Interleukin-33, a target of parathyroid hormone and oncostatin M, increases osteoblastic matrix mineral deposition and inhibits osteoclast formation in vitro. Endocrinology 152:1911-1922.

• van der Kraan AGJ, Chai RCC, Singh PP, Lang BJ, Xu J, Gillespie MT, Price JT, Quinn JMW (2013) HSP90 inhibitors enhance differentiation and Microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF) activity in osteoclast progenitors. Biochemical Journal 451:235-244.

• Wong P, Fuller PJ, Gillespie MT, Kartsogiannis V, Strauss BJ, Bowden D, Milat F (2013) Thalassemia bone disease: the association between nephrolithiasis, bone mineral density and fractures. Osteoporosis International 24:1965-1971.