Bone research centers upon metabolic bone disease and cellular signaling and death.

Bone is continuously formed and reabsorbed throughout life. Typically, segments of bone are reabsorbed and replaced by a precisely coordinated process involving specialized cells. Research in this area is broadly involved in signal transduction, transcription, molecular biology, and cell biology. Typical student projects encompass the study of specialized bone cell functions (i.e. osteoblasts and osteoclasts) using cellular and molecular biology approaches.

• UAB Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Clinic
• Human Bone Cell Production Core (HBCPC)
• UAB Bone Research: UAB Dedicates New Shelby Research Building
• UAB Receives $1.3 Million NIH Grant for Interdisciplinary TMJ Implant Research

Molecular & Cellular Pathology
Bone Research Faculty

Cao, Xu, Ph.D.

Research Focus: Multipotent stem cells

Select Highlights and Articles:

• Human Bone Cell Production Core (HBCPC)
• Pancreatic Cancer's 95% Mortality Rate Targeted with Major Federal Grant to UAB
• A Dishevelled-1/SMAD1 Interaction Couples WNT and BMP Signaling Pathways in Uncommitted Bone Marrow Stromal Cells
• TGFbeta/BMP Inhibits the Bone Marrow Transformation Capability of Hoxa9 by Repressing its DNA-binding Ability
• Smads Oppose Hox Transcriptional Activities
• The BMP Signaling and In Vivo Bone Formation
• SCF(beta-TrCP1) Controls Smad4 Protein Stability in Pancreatic Cancer Cells
• GADD34-PP1c Recruited by Smad7 Dephosphorylates TGFbeta Type I Receptor
• A Glucocorticoid-induced Leucine-Zipper Protein, GILZ, Inhibits Adipogenesis of Mesenchymal Cells

Clemens, Thomas, Ph.D.

Research Focus:  Parathyroid/Insulin-like growth factor interaction in bone; parathyroid hormone in the cardiovascular system

Select Highlights and Articles:

• Clemens New Director Molecular and Cellular Pathology
• Clemens Awarded $650,000 from Howard Hughes Medical Institute to Establish Hughes Med-Grad Fellowship (http://www.medgrad.uab.edu) Program at UAB
• Genetic Mouse Models for Study of Anabolic Agents in Bone
• New Models Hold Promise for Breast Cancer Research
• A Dishevelled-1/SMAD1 Interaction Couples WNT and BMP Signaling Pathways in Uncommitted Bone Marrow Stromal Cells
• Co-ordination of TGF-beta and FGF Signaling Pathways in Bone Organ Cultures
• Essential Role of Beta-catenin in Postnatal Bone Acquisition
• Osteoblast-specific Expression of Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 in Bone of Transgenic Mice Induces Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein-5
• Hypoxia Induces Chondrocyte-Specific Gene Expression in Mesenchymal Cells in Association with Transcriptional Activation of Sox9
• Creation of Estrogen Resistance in Vivo by Transgenic Overexpression of the Heterogenous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein-related Estrogen Response Element Binding Protein

Feng, Xu, Ph.D.  

Research Focus: RANKL/RANK signaling in osteoclast differention and function

Select Highlights and Articles:

• Regulation of Osteoclast Function and Bone Mass by RAGE
• High-level Expression of B7-H1 Molecules by Dendritic Cells Suppresses the Function of Activated T Cells and Desensitize Allergen-primed Animals
• Receptor Activator of NF-kappaB (RANK) Cytoplasmic Motif, 369PFQEP373, Plays a Predominant Role in Osteoclast Survival in Part by Activating Akt/PKB and its Downstream Effector AFX/FOX04
• RANKing Intracellular Signaling in Osteoclasts
• Regulatory Roles and Molecular Signaling of TNF Family Members in Osteoclasts

Klein, Michael J.

Research Focus: Non-neoplastic lesions (arthritis, collagen degradation diseases); orthopedic imaging and histology; endometrial diseases

Select Highlights and Articles:

• UAB Medical Students Art Contest Adds Faculty
• New Frozen Section Lab Speeds Surgical Pathology Consultations
• The Sleuths Behind the Scenes: Clinical Labs Make the Diagnosis
• Osteoarcoma
• Primary Periosteal Lymphoma - Rare and Unusual
• Glomus Tumor of the Thigh: Confluent with the Periosteum of the Femur

McDonald, Jay, M.D.

Research Focus: Cell signaling in bone disease, AIDS and cancer

Select Highlights and Articles: 

• McDonald Honored as UAB Distinguished Lecturer
• Osteoporosis and AIDS
• Medicine on the Trip to Mars
• CMBD: Highlights of the University-Wide Center Grant Application
• Point Mutations in the C-terminus of HIV-1 gp160 Reduce Apoptosis and Calmodulin Binding without Affecting Viral Replication
• Calmodulin Is a Critical Regulator of Osteoclastic Differentiation, Function, and Survival
• RhoA and Cytoskeletal Disruption Mediate Reduced Osteoblastogenesis and Enhanced Adipogenesis of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Modeled Microgravity
• Fas Binding to Calmodulin Regulates Apoptosis in Osteoclasts
• Modeled Microgravity Disrupts Collagen I/Integrin Signaling During Osteoblastic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Shi, Xingming, Ph.D.

Select Highlights and Articles:

• Smad4 Protein Stability Is Regulated by Ubiquitin Ligase SCF beta-TrCP1
• GADD34-PP1c Recruited by Smad7 Dephosphorylates TGFbeta Type I Receptor
• A Glucocorticoid-induced Leucine-Zipper Protein, GILZ, Inhibits Adipogenesis of Mesenchymal Cells
• Jab1 Antagonizes TGF-beta Signaling by Inducing Smad4 Degradation