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Method Article
An Achilles tenotomy and burn injury model of heterotopic ossification allows for the reliable study of trauma induced ectopic bone formation without the application of exogenous factors.
Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the formation of bone outside of the skeleton which forms following major trauma, burn injuries, and orthopaedic surgical procedures. The majority of animal models used to study HO rely on the application of exogenous substances, such as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), exogenous cell constructs, or genetic mutations in BMP signaling. While these models are useful they do not accurately reproduce the inflammatory states that cause the majority of cases of HO. Here we describe a burn/tenotomy model in mice that reliably produces focused HO. This protocol involves creating a 30% total body surface area partial thickness contact burn on the dorsal skin as well as division of the Achilles tendon at its midpoint. Relying solely on traumatic injury to induce HO at a predictable location allows for time-course study of endochondral heterotopic bone formation from intrinsic physiologic processes and environment only. This method could prove instrumental in understanding the inflammatory and osteogenic pathways involved in trauma-induced HO. Furthermore, because HO develops in a predictable location and time-course in this model, it allows for research to improve early imaging strategies and treatment modalities to prevent HO formation.
Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the formation of ectopic bone in which osteo-potent cells are aberrantly induced to form endochondral bone outside of the skeleton. While the details of the HO formation pathway are still largely unknown, an accepted paradigm includes three key factors: an inflammatory inciting incident, a permissive niche, and mesenchymal stem cells capable of forming bone.1-3 HO is a common comorbidity complicating over 60% of major burn injuries, 65% of combat-related injuries, and 10% of invasive orthopaedic surgery cases.4,5 However, it is often difficult to predict where HO will form because it can occur at sites of local injury or at distant locations that may be otherwise uninjured. This variability in location makes it difficult to intervene prophylactically to prevent reactive bone formation in a locally targeted manner. There are also congenital forms of HO such as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) in which patients are prone to the development of robust HO in response to minor trauma or inflammatory insult. Powerful animal models using transgenic mice have reproduced this phenotype and provided insight to the molecular pathways that may also be important in trauma induced HO.6-9 Translational research into the pathogenesis of non-congenital HO has used a wide variety of constructs ranging from injury alone to the implantation of exogenous osteo-inductive materials and/or cells.10-13
In our prior work we have validated a simple and reliable model of HO formation in mice which does not require the administration of any exogenous material.14-17 This model created two key conditions to initiate HO: local trauma and global inflammation. This was achieved through the use of an Achilles tenotomy (local trauma) combined with a distant burn injury (global inflammation). Mice received both treatments concurrently and were found to develop a robust amount of HO that could be analyzed by histologic, radiologic, and molecular means. Interestingly, concurrent burn injury significantly increased the amount of HO that formed and accelerated its developmental time-course.14-16 HO developed at predictable sites around the calcaneus, ankle joint, and tibia/fibula of the limb that received the tenotomy. The reliability of HO development at a known location allowed for focused examination of molecular and histologic features in the early stages of ectopic ossification.14,17 To date, 100% of mice (over 50 animals) with a tenotomy and concurrent burn injury have developed HO. Additionally, longitudinal 2D and 3D imaging and spectroscopic analysis were conducted to examine the growth pattern and biochemical make-up of HO.15,16
הצהרת אתיקה: נהלי כל החיה בוצעו בהתאם קפדן עם תרגול חיה טוב כפי שהוגדר בהנחיות המופיעות במדריך לשימוש וטיפול בחי מעבדה: המהדורה השמינית של המכון לחקר בעלי החיים מעבדה (ILAR, 2011) והיו אושר על ידי הוועדה המוסדית הטיפול בבעלי חיים ושימוש באוניברסיטת מישיגן (PRO0001553).
1. ניתוחי עכבר
הערה: C57BL הישן 8-10 השבוע השתמש / 6 עכברים. גם בגילים אחרים, רקעים, וזנים של עכברים יכולים לשמש כדי לבדוק תנאים שונים או איפור גנטי. עבור חלק tenotomy של ההליך, לשמור על תנאים סטריליים באמצעות מסיכת פנים, כובע שיער, ושמלת סטרילי, כפפות, ומכשירים. אתרי כירורגי צריכים להיות מוכנים סטרילי עם povidone- יוד וכורך סטרילי. הימנע היפותרמיה באמצעות כרית חימום וטרינרים והתחממות פתרונות החייאה עד 37 מעלות צלזיוס לפני ניהול כלליtion.
2. μCT רכישה וניתוח
במחקר הנוכחי, את הפרוטוקול מתואר למודל העכבר שפורסם בעבר של טראומה / לשרוף מושרה HO. 14-17 זה כרוך ביצירה של פציעת שריר-שלד מקומי במקביל לtenotomy אכילס ועלבון דלקתי העולמי בעובי חלקי לשרוף פציעה. התוצאה היא היווצרות אמינה של עצם תגובה באתר tenotomy שניתן אחריו עם הדמיה סיד...
Heterotopic ossification represents a major functional impairment faced by patients that sustain trauma, burns, and invasive musculoskeletal procedures. The most at-risk population are soldiers in modern conflicts with major blast injuries from mechanisms such as improvised explosive devices (IED).18 Improved body armor and forward positioned medical units allows for improved survival of major extremity injury. After initial stabilization and repair of their extremity injury, these patients are at high risk...
The authors have nothing to disclose
We thank Amanda Fair, the CMI, and Kathy Sweet and the ORL at UM for assistance with µCT imaging and analysis. Funding: BL Funded by 1K08GM109105-01 and Plastic Surgery Foundation National Endowment Award.
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
C57BL/6 mice | Jackson Laboratory | 664 | 8-10 weeks old |
Isoflurane – Fluriso | VET one, Boise, ID | V1 501017 | |
Buprenorphine – Buprenex | Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare | NDC 12496-0757-1 | 0.3 mg/ml solution |
Betadine | Owens and Minor, Mechanicsville, VA | 2047PVP202 | |
5-0 Vicryl sutures | Ethicon, Summerville, NJ | J493 | |
Tegaderm Film, 6 cm x 7 cm | 3M | 1624W | Cut in half to properly cover burn site |
µCT - GE eXplore Locus SP | GE Healthcare Pre-Clinical Imaging, London, ON, Canada | ||
Microview 2.2 Advanced Bone Analysis Application | GE Healthcare Pre-Clinical Imaging, London, ON, Canada |
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