Our research
A research team led by Prof. Natalie Sims from St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, used Synchrotron Infrared Microspectroscopy to analyse the mineral and protein composition of mouse bones, and applied this in the comparison of bone composition of normal animals with that of animals showing a “brittle bone” disease. This disease is due to reduced activity of a key protein that regulates the activity of the bone-forming cells called osteocytes. The infrared data revealed details of the bones’ carbonate and phosphate minerals, as well as the protein matrix composition at different ages of bone growth. The animals with brittle bone disease showed greater mineral deposition in mature bone, and changes in the bones’ protein matrix structure.
The synchrotron infrared results contrasted with results from other methods, such as computerised tomography, which had not shown differences in the density of the bone, or in the bones’ complex internal structure between normal and diseased mice.
In combination, these results show that the brittle bone disease is not a result of reduced bone density, but is due to the deposition of weaker bone material.
