Biological Sciences
Howard Hosick
Bone Research at the Interface of Cancer Biology and Engineering Science
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Dr. Howard Hosick’s current research focuses on understanding two issues related to skeletal biology: how cells function to repair bone defects, and how surrogate ceramic structures that mimic bone structure can be used to remove dangerous cells from circulation. The cell types used to date include osteoblasts (bone cells) and cancer cells. Dr. Hosick has found that these cells interact with specific substrata in different ways. Surfaces composed of collagen gels, charged plastic surfaces, and ceramics evoke different patterns of replication, differentiation, and adhesion in osteoblasts. These features of cell/substrate interactions have been quantitated using several techniques including cell replication assays, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal microscopy. Dr. Hosick is also collaborating with a group of ceramics engineers to refine methods for repair of spinal-column damage. Ceramic implant constructs are being colonized with osteoblasts, and these bone-producing cells should in turn produce bone proteins that repair bone lesions, thus restructuring the skeletal architecture.
These studies also serve as a platform for development of procedures to prevent the bone destruction caused by metastatic breast cancer cells. These invasive cells erode bone, a debilitating and very painful process. Dr. Hosick’s research group has developed a totally new strategy for managing this problem by making use of decoy ‘bones’ constructed from porous ceramics, which mimic the features of real bone. Metastatic cells adhere almost instantly to the surrogate bone, effectively removing them from circulation. Studies are now under way to optimize such adhesion, for example by developing porous ceramic filters with large surface areas to which these dangerous cells will adhere most avidly. Dr. Hosick’s team envisions an external filtration system through which blood would flow and be purged of cancer cells before returning to circulation, essentially as done during kidney dialysis.
Contact Information
Howard Hosick, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Biological Sciences
Washington State University
PO Box 644236
Pullman, WA 99164-4236
Telephone: 509-335-3035
E-mail: hosick@wsu.edu |
