A variety of congenital craniofacial anomalies arise as a consequence of defects in the process of suture morphogenesis, including agenesis, the failure to form sutures; premature synostosis; and dysostosis. To better understand, diagnose and treat these disorders, this project's long-term goal is elucidating the mechanisms governing suture formation, maintenance of patency, and function as a bone growth center. To achieve this goal four specific aims are proposed: 1) characterization of the tissue interactions of dura mater and periosteum with developing calvaria (bones and suture) critical to suture formation, patency and growth function; 2) characterization and identification of the factor(s) expressed by dura mater which are required for suture patency; 3) characterization of the local-acting factors and interacting molecules regulating proliferation and differentiation in the osteogenic cell populations of the peri-sutural tissues; and 4) test the effects of candidate factors and antagonists on patency and growth functions by injection into coronal sutures. The model for these studies is the developing coronal suture of the rat, which will be examined in a surgical transplant system, in serum free culture of calvaria, in isolated cell populations and in intact neonatal animals. The involvement of each associated tissue in the suture morphogenesis and function will be indicated by removing the tissue at various stages of development and evaluating the formation of sutures, maintenance of patency and bone growth. Employing in vitro measurement of sutural stenosis, cellular proliferation and osteogenic differentiation as bio- assays, factors involved will be fractionated and identified. A heparin- binding factor expressed by fetal dura mater will be characterized in depth, and if novel, cloned and sequenced. Identification of soluble factors influencing proliferation and differentiation of and expressed by each cell population will help elucidate which osteogenic cells produce the bone at the sutural margin and bridge the suture during synostosis. These studies may identify regulatory factors and signalling pathways critical to suture development and function, which when perturbed contribute to craniofacial pathology.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DE010369-02
Application #
2131295
Study Section
Oral Biology and Medicine Subcommittee 1 (OBM)
Project Start
1994-02-01
Project End
1997-01-31
Budget Start
1995-02-01
Budget End
1996-01-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Virginia
Department
Surgery
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
001910777
City
Charlottesville
State
VA
Country
United States
Zip Code
22904
Neal, Rebekah A; Tholpady, Sunil S; Foley, Patricia L et al. (2012) Alignment and composition of laminin-polycaprolactone nanofiber blends enhance peripheral nerve regeneration. J Biomed Mater Res A 100:406-23
Petrie Aronin, Caren E; Sefcik, Lauren S; Tholpady, Sunil S et al. (2010) FTY720 promotes local microvascular network formation and regeneration of cranial bone defects. Tissue Eng Part A 16:1801-9
Neal, Rebekah A; McClugage, Samuel G; Link, Mia C et al. (2009) Laminin nanofiber meshes that mimic morphological properties and bioactivity of basement membranes. Tissue Eng Part C Methods 15:11-21
Petrie Aronin, Caren E; Sadik, Karim W; Lay, Ann L et al. (2009) Comparative effects of scaffold pore size, pore volume, and total void volume on cranial bone healing patterns using microsphere-based scaffolds. J Biomed Mater Res A 89:632-41
Sefcik, Lauren S; Neal, Rebekah A; Kaszuba, Stephanie N et al. (2008) Collagen nanofibres are a biomimetic substrate for the serum-free osteogenic differentiation of human adipose stem cells. J Tissue Eng Regen Med 2:210-20
Petrie, Caren; Tholpady, Sunil; Ogle, Roy et al. (2008) Proliferative capacity and osteogenic potential of novel dura mater stem cells on poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid. J Biomed Mater Res A 85:61-71
Tholpady, Sunil S; Abdelaal, Mohamed M; Dufresne, Craig R et al. (2004) Aberrant bony vasculature associated with activating fibroblast growth factor receptor mutations accompanying Crouzon syndrome. J Craniofac Surg 15:431-5; discussion 436-8
Ogle, Roy C; Tholpady, Sunil S; McGlynn, Kathryn A et al. (2004) Regulation of cranial suture morphogenesis. Cells Tissues Organs 176:54-66
Opperman, L A; Chhabra, A; Cho, R W et al. (1999) Cranial suture obliteration is induced by removal of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 3 activity and prevented by removal of TGF-beta 2 activity from fetal rat calvaria in vitro. J Craniofac Genet Dev Biol 19:164-73
Opperman, L A; Chhabra, A; Nolen, A A et al. (1998) Dura mater maintains rat cranial sutures in vitro by regulating suture cell proliferation and collagen production. J Craniofac Genet Dev Biol 18:150-8

Showing the most recent 10 out of 12 publications