News Releases & Research Results Establishment of a foundation for the simulation experiment of bone reconstruction (remodeling) - To predict the effects of drug therapy on bone diseases -

The results of collaborative research and development conducted by Professor Taiji Adachi and Assistant Professor Yoshitaka Kameo of the Department of Virus Research, Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, and Professor Tomoki Nakashima and Assistant Professor Mikihito Hayashi of the Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

• The detailed molecular and cellular mechanisms of "bone remodeling," i.e., metabolism in which osteoclasts destroy old bone and osteoblasts generate new bone at the destroyed site, have been investigated extensively. However, the highly complicated signaling pathways between the cells involved in bone metabolism have precluded the prediction of changes in bone formation during remodeling due to bone diseases or drug treatment.
• In the project, a platform "V-Bone" was developed for simulation experiments to allow detailed observation of remodeling processes using various experimental procedures for virtual bones in silico. Using the "V-Bone," the pathological conditions of bone diseases, such as osteoporosis and osteopetrosis (osteoclast dysfunction interfering with bone resorption, resulting in systemic bone sclerosis), were successfully reproduced in silico.
• In silico experiments with the "V-Bone" should promote bone metabolism research in the future as new research methods along with conventional in vivo and in vitro experiments.

This R&D project was conducted with the support of Advanced Research and Development Programs for Medical Innovation (AMED-CREST) by AMED.

The results of the R&D were published in the international journal, Science Advances, on March 7.

Kameo K., et al. In silico experiments of bone remodeling explore metabolic diseases and their drug treatment Science Advances
DOI：10.1126/sciadv.aax0938