Not all children are fortunate enough to grow up in a prosperous country like Germany or Austria. That´s why we support “Kinder helfen Kindern by ADRA Deutschland e.v.” again, which provides Christmas presents to children in Macedonia and Albania, who may never have received Christmas presents before. We hope our little gifts bring joy to the children and their families and put a smile on their face because children are the future of our world!   www.kinder-helfen-kindern.org

The ASBMR Most Outstanding Abstract Award is given to the highest scoring translational abstract submitted for presentation at the ASBMR Annual Meeting. In the abstract we show that T cell-derived Dkk1 controls bone remodeling in adult mice and that it contributes to bone loss induced by estrogen deficiency. This work demonstrates that bone loss after menopause may not only be mediated via direct actions on bone cells, but also via actions on other cell types, such as T cells. Congratulations, Martina!

The Bone Lab thanks Laura Silvestri from the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, Italy and Alexander Rauch from the University of Southern Denmark for their fantastic talks on iron metabolism and the control of hepcidin expression and the epigenetic control of MSC differentiation into osteoblasts and adipocytes. We learned a lot and are looking forward to further collaborations!

Diabetes mellitus is a widespread metabolic disease, with negative/adverse effects on many organ systems. Diabetes also significantly affects bone health. An increased risk of bone fractures and impaired fracture healing has been observed in patients, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. In order to investigate the links between diabetes and the bone system, the EU project “FIDELIO” will run for four years starting October 2019. This European Training Network, coordinated by scientists from the Faculty of Medicine of the Technical University of Dresden, is funded by the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme with a total of 3.8 million €. In FIDELIO, 14 ambitious and creative young scientists will be trained to tackle the future challenges of an ageing society.

To prevent bones from breaking, they must be healthy and strong. The regulation of bone metabolism is influenced by hormones, mechanical stress, and genetic factors. Diabetes mellitus is a serious and wide-spread condition affecting the whole body. Well-known complications include the heart, the kidneys or the eyes. However, what has only recently been discovered is that diabetes mellitus also has serious adverse effects on bone metabolism, resulting in an increased fracture risk and poor healing. How exactly do type 1 and type 2 diabetes damage the skeleton? What role do inflammatory processes and vascular damage play? Which new therapeutic approaches result from this? How can fractures be more effectively prevented? These are some of the questions that the scientists of the FIDELIO network aim to answer. Using a network of young talents and cooperation with industry, they expect to obtain novel insights into the risk factors and mechanisms of diabetic bone disease. New genetic and diagnostic markers could better identify patients at risk for bone fractures. Imaging techniques are essential for a more precise diagnosis. In collaboration with industry, new imaging-based methods for bone visualization will be developed to ultimately detect bone changes before they lead to fractures.

FIDELIO stands for “Training network for research into bone Fragility In Diabetes in Europe towards a personaLised medIcine apprOach” and is coordinated by the professors Martina Rauner and Lorenz Hofbauer of the Bone Lab of the Medical Faculty of the TU Dresden. “It will take highly qualified and specially trained scientists and clinicians to develop a new field of research into diabetes and bone. FIDELIO will educate 14 young scientists in an interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international environment and provide them with extensive knowledge and skills across the entire process chain,” says Martina Rauner, biotechnologist and professor at the Bone Lab Dresden. „FIDELIO is a clear commitment to Europe,” adds endocrinologist Lorenz Hofbauer. “We have top UK, Danish, Dutch, Swiss and Italian universities on board, an Austrian biotech company, and two German Universities of Excellence, TU Dresden and University of Hamburg. We expect a great conceptual and methodological exchange of young scientists at all locations. This innovation boost is good for all of us.”

The researchers and physicians involved in FIDELIO hope to use their findings to develop new prevention and treatment approaches to improve bone quality in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Unravelling the diverse interactions and mechanisms of Action between glucose, fat and bone metabolism will increase our knowledge of bone health, ultimately allowing us to reduce the fracture burden and increase the quality of life of people with diabetes. In addition to gaining new scientific knowledge, the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme aims to support the best scientific minds in Europe at different stages of their careers. As part of this programme, Innovative Training Networks (ITN) undertake innovative and structured training of junior researchers for up to four years, developing their potential to become leading scientists in the future.

There are 14 PhD positions open! Apply now and join us!

Another PhD from the Bone Lab: Dr. Juliane Colditz! She defended her thesis entitled “Defining the role of DKK1 in bone homeostasis and the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis” and successfully passed the Rigorosum. At the end of the day she left with a big smile and a Summa cum laude. Well done, Juliane!

Charity run: 470 runners set signs against cancer

Successful start: At the first charity run of the National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden (NCT / UCC), around 470 runners started in the Dresden Waldpark on July 2. Alone or as a team, all participants covered a distance of more than 3,100 kilometers. About 10,000 euros in donations for cancer research were made. Thanks to Martina for her active support!

Further information: https://www.nct-dresden.de/das-nctucc-dresden/spenden/benefizlauf.html

Denn Laufen stärkt die Knochen

Knochen können nur stark werden und stark bleiben, wenn sie regelmäßig kräftig belastet werden. Schon dreimal 15 Laufminuten pro Woche sorgen dafür, dass das Risiko, Osteoporose zu bekommen, um bis zu 40 Prozent sinkt. Mit der Belastung steigt die Knochendichte, dies schützt vor Frakturen und Osteoporose. Knochenverlust und dessen Behandlung ist nur eines der vielen Themen, mit denen sich das Bone Lab beschäftigt.

Ulrike Baschant läuft seit vielen Jahren und trainiert regelmäßig. „Laufen gehört für mich einfach zu einem erfüllten gesunden Leben. Nach jedem Lauf fühle ich mich mental und körperlich lebendig und frisch.” Für Andy Göbel ist „Laufen eine ideale Sportart, frische Luft zu tanken und mental abzuschalten – man fühlt einfach, wie es den ganzen Körper aktiviert und Stress abbaut. Das kann nur gesund sein.” „Im Dynamo-Stadion mit tausenden anderen Sportlern ins Ziel einzulaufen, ist ein unvergleichliches Gefühl“, so Anja Strehle. Tomas Helbing, Koordinator am UniversitätsCentrum für Gesundes Altern, bereitet sich damit auf einen im Juli geplanten 24h-100km Mammut-Marsch bei München vor.

Was ist wohl für unsere vier Laufsportler das nächste Ziel? Hauptsache bewegen! Gelenke und der Stützapparat werden es danken.

Elena Tsourdi is ECTS Clinical Fellowship Awardee 2019 having been granted 10.000€ for clinical research in the field of bone disease. With the project ‘The effect of antiresorptive and osteoanabolic drugs on the expression of bone-specific microRNAs in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis’ she and her collaborators plan to test whether bone-specific miRNAs are differently regulated by osteoporosis therapeutics.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various cell functions by inhibiting target gene expression, and bone-specific miRNAs can be potential diagnostic tools in postmenopausal osteoporosis. The main goal of this project is to identify miRNAs which are involved in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal bone loss and to examine their regulation by antiresorptive and osteoanabolic drugs. We will analyse sera from an established cohort of postmenopausal women which were either treatment-naïve, or had received 1-2 yearly i.v. infusions of 5 mg zoledronic acid (ZOL), or had completed 24 months of daily s.c. injections of 20 µg teriparatide (TPTD). The central hypothesis is that bone-specific miRNAs are differently regulated by osteoporosis therapeutics. In order to test the hypothesis we will analyse miRNA-profile regulation by osteoporosis therapeutics and seek to identify correlations between miRNAs and changes in bone mineral density, serum concentrations of established bone turnover markers and myostatin in treatment-naïve and pretreated postmenopausal women. This characterization of the miRNA-profile will lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis and may thus contribute to the development of innovative therapeutic approaches.