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New technique yields information from nanoscale bone samples
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Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a technique that allows them to collect large amounts of biochemical information from nanoscale bone samples — potentially allowing for new insights into the fight against osteoporosis and opening a proteomics-based approach to analyzing bone quality.
The technique was detailed in a recent issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
“We’re able to take very small, nanoscale-sized bone samples, and determine the protein signatures of the bone,” lead author Deepak Vashishth, PhD, stated in a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute press release. “This is a relatively quick, easy way for us to determine the history of the bone — how and when it formed — as well as the quality of the bone, and its likelihood to fracture.”
The team paired laser-capture microscopy with a newly developed liquid chromatography separation method, following it up with gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analysis.
“The developed strategy permitted unprecedented biochemical analyses of bone-matrix proteins, including collagen modifications, using nearly nanoscale amounts of exceptionally homogenous bone tissue,” the authors wrote.
The analysis, according to the release, yields data about the concentration of different proteins in the bone matrix, which in turn leads to information about the bone — such as when it was formed, how it has been modified, and if it is more or less prone to fracture. The authors of the study labeled this “an important step” toward augmenting current osteoporosis diagnosis techniques. Current techniques measure bone loss and the quantity of bone present. The new, proteomics-driven method is minimally invasive and measures the quality of the bone itself.
“This is kind of a new area because bone fracture has always been looked at from a bone calcium perspective, a mineral perspective, and current osteoporosis treatment methods are all geared toward that,” Vashishth stated in the release. “In osteoporosis, very little attention has been paid to bone proteins. That’s why we’re very excited about our new proteomics-based method to read a bone’s protein signature, and assess the quality of the bone. I think it opens up a new avenue for approaching and studying osteoporosis.”
Reference:
- Sroga GE, Karim L, Colon W, Vashishth D. Biochemical characterization of major bone-matrix proteins using nanoscale-size bone samples and proteomics methodology. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2011. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M110.006718
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