Aggrecan and its role in bone development

Aryn Gabai

Role of Aggrecan• Very large (200+ kDal) structural protein• Links ECM components, compression resistant

– essentially a ECM scaffold• Connects hyaluronic acid and link protein for

bone mineralization• We have observed that PERK mice have a

reduced amount of aggrecan in the total growth plate

• Difficulty with identifying causes for reduced amount – smaller gp? less aggrecan? reduced chondrocytes?

7289 WT 19d

7289 WT 19d

7293 KO 19d

7296 KO 19d

7297 WT 19d

7296 KO 19d12916 HT 17d

12915 WT 17d

12913 KO 17d

• Isolated aggrecan for REX chondrocytes

• Shows a working aggrecan western

------- 5 uL-------- ------ 10 uL-------

15d HT

15 d

WT

15d HT

15d KO

15d HT

15d HT

15d KO

15d WT

17d KO

17d HT

17d HT

REX

• Tissue-based westerns are not as clear or quantifiable

Project Future

• Is this data enough to continue researching this protein?

• Identify housekeeping protein to quantify western results

• More western replication