UCSF CCMBM Cores: Featured Services

UCSF CCMBM Core Services - May 2020

CCMBM Cores:
Featured Services

The Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology & Medicine (CCMBM) defines itself by emphasizing musculoskeletal-specific events, grants, and services that are critical to its members but not available elsewhere in the university system.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE CCMBM

If you have received a CCMBM grant, formed a collaboration at one of our events, or used one of our cores, please acknowledge the CCMBM in related publications and presentations. We suggest stating:

Research reported in this publication was supported by the UCSF Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine (CCMBM) of the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) under the award number P30AR075055.

"There is an incredible expertise across different domains of musculoskeletal research at UCSF. I find particular value in the mutual awareness that CCMBM brings to this community and believe this promotes greater utilization of resources - not just facilities and personnel, but also data resources. My new grant leverages existing data sets collected by CCMBM members from Radiology, Epidemiology, and Endocrinology to develop and validate computational micro-structural anatomy methods for HR-pQCT. The cooperation of CCMBM investigators and the access to novel data resources was an essential factor in the success of our proposal."

-- Andrew Burghardt, Research Specialist, UCSF Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging

UPCOMING CCMBM EVENT

Statistical Analysis Coaching Session - Sign up to receive help or join to learn at bit.ly/CCMBMstats

CCMBM can help you prepare grants for the upcoming Cycle II and Cycle III NIH deadline(s) with statistical analysis help from a biostatistical expert. Sign up to receive big-picture initial advice, potentially helping the investigator articulate questions to ask in a more detailed CTSI/CCMBM consultation. Find out more details here.

CCMBM EBSD CORE

The EBSD Core, in collaboration with the Imaging Core, hosts a monthly work-in-progress Bone Investigator Group (BIG) workshop for clinical research in bone. BIG meets on the second Friday of every month at 10am. Investigators can present their clinical research grants or data and receive feedback and informal consultation from peers and senior investigators. Please contact Lucy Wu, EBSD Core Program Manager, for more details.

CCMBM IMAGING CORE

CCMBM Early Stage Investigator and Trainee members are eligible to receive a 25% discount on all research recharges listed here. Click the equipment links to learn more about each service.

To schedule usage time, make your request with the appropriate contact person. CCMBM Early Stage Investigators and Trainees must mention your CCMBM membership and request the 25% discount to be applied.

If you have questions about membership and discount eligibility, please contact Daniel Davis.

The Imaging Core is adding MRI whole body composition scans and analysis to the suite of tools available to CCMBM members. The entire MR scan takes about 5 minutes scan time and can easily be added to ongoing MRI scans. The figures below shows water-only, fat-only, and fat fraction map. Image analysis for visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, and thigh volume can currently be done manually or through AMRA Medical (Linköping, Sweden). Muscle fat infiltration can also be added to the analysis. In house software for MRI-based body composition analysis are also being added – stay tuned for more details!

For information on accessing the body composition tools available through the Imaging Core, contact Roland Krug, Imaging Core Co-Director.

CCMBM SBB CORE

How strong is YOUR skeleton?
The musculoskeletal system has the functional task of withstanding substantial stress during the course of locomotion and strenuous activities such as weightlifting or sprinting. However, its remarkable biomechanical behavior is impaired by aging and in certain diseases. The Skeletal Biology and Biomechanics (SBB) Core offers testing for measuring the biomechanical behavior of load-bearing tissues, including bone.

SBB Core Service - Bending Test
Bending tests are useful for measuring the flexural properties of femurs or other long bones from rodents and other small animals. The SBB core includes electromechanical (BOSE ELF 3200) testing capabilities, which allow ex vivo testing in 3-point bending using standardized protocols. The SBB Core also offers comprehensive data analysis and interpretation.

Please contact Cristal Yee, SBB Core Manager, for more information.

Left: Diagram of 3-point bending test performed on excised rat ulna. The ulna is placed on two supports and a third point applies a downward load to the mid-diaphysis. Center: Typical load data acquired during 3-point bending are converted to bending moments and then plotted versus normalized displacement. This allows determination of ulnar rigidity, yield moment, and ultimate moment. Right: Yield moment data for a recent study of diabetic bone fragility conducted by Aaron Fields’ lab. Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for fragility fractures. Ulnae from a rat model of type 2 diabetes have 23% lower yield moments compared to ulnae from obese non-diabetic rats (^ap < 0.01) and lean control rats (^bp < 0.01). Data are mean ± SEM for 6 rats/group.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE CCMBM