Miss Claire Wood

MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow

Contact details

Address

Street

The Roslin Institute
Easter Bush Campus
Midlothian

City
Post code
EH25 9RG

Biography

Background

I am an MRC clinical research fellow, based both at Roslin Institute and the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre in Newcastle, investigating bone and growth in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Short stature and osteoporosis are common in DMD and its pathophsyiology may include a paracrine as well as an endocrine abnormality of the GH/IGF-1 axis, which is further exacerbated by glucocorticoid (GC) use. The commonly used mdx mouse has a phenotype which is less severe than DMD boys. A new Cmah-/-mdx mouse model has increased disease severity, but its skeletal phenotype has never been investigated.

 

To test the overall hypothesis that murine models of DMD have an intrinsic abnormality of linear growth and skeletal development that can be rescued by modulation of the GH/IGF-1 axis, I will investigate:-

1. Growth and growth plate (GP) chondrogenesis in mdx and Cmah-/-mdx murine models,e xpecting impairment in both, and increased severity in Cmah-/-mdx.

2. Bone development and fragility in the Mdx and Cmah-/-mdx..

3. Growth response and bone development following exposure to GC, expecting them to be further reduced by daily dexamethasone.

4. Growth and bone response following treatment with rhGH and/or rhIGF-1, expecting combination therapy to be most effective.

 

If rhGH or rhIGF-1 rescue bone and growth pre-clinically then this could be translated clinically. These data may also help inform the design of novel therapies directed specifically at the mechanism of insult leading to skeletal fragility in DMD.

View all 3 publications on Research Explorer

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