Ammar Ahmad
Pronouns: He/him/his
Research Mentor(s): Kurt Hankenson
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Orthopaedic Surgery / Medicine
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 2 – 11am – 11:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Ammar Ahmad, Christina Capobianco, Kurt Hankenson
Presenter: 69
Abstract
The vasculature plays a crucial role in orchestrating bone regeneration following a fracture. During the healing process, a callus is formed, constituting a cascade of biological processes including the inflammation of tissue near the fracture (initiated by the immune system), osteogenesis and the formation of structured cartilage around the inflamed area, neovascularization and the building of new blood vessels, and finally, the eventual remodeling of the bone. We are seeking to spatially characterize the callus at multiple timepoints in order to understand the cellular environment’s role in facilitating osteogenesis. A fundamental stage in this process is the vascular ingrowth at the fracture site. We hope to gain insight on this crucial stepping stone in the bone regeneration process by utilizing immunohistochemistry (IHC) in order to label endothelial cells in the callus using the CD31 marker. Endothelial cells have a key role of lining blood vessels, constructing vessel walls. This could provide essential information in understanding how vasculature is involved in bone regeneration. After conducting IHC on paraffin-embedded tibial fracture sections at early time points, we hope to analyze CD31 positive cells and utilize the cell analysis software, Cell Profiler, to visualize vasculogenesis in the fracture callus. Already, the lab has been able to successfully stain cells with the proliferative marker, EdU. Incorporating other markers such as CD31 into the staining processes would give us a better understanding of the proliferation of specific cellular populations. This would ultimately provide a more holistic picture of the tissue under various conditions. Cells that are CD31+, EdU+ may be interpreted as proliferating endothelial cells. This would give insight into the vessel development and potentially allow us to assess the influence of vascularity on osteogenesis. Through this analysis, we can gain a deeper understanding of bone fracture healing and understand the temporal changes that influence regeneration.
Interdisciplinary, Natural/Life Sciences
