Grant recipient
Phillip Newton says: “Children grow taller due to the activity of cartilage organs located near the ends of growing bones, known as growth plates. Growth plates contain cells called chondrocytes. To ensure that bones grow normally, perfect communication between chondrocytes and hormone-producing cells around the body is essential, but the methods of communication are incompletely understood. A new method of cell-to-cell communication has recently emerged: extracellular vesicles, or EVs, are tiny fluid-filled balls released by all types of cells that are transported around the body through fluids, such as blood. EVs are so precisely labelled that they can reach their particular target cells with an extremely high level of accuracy, even over long distances. The role of EVs in bone growth is unknown. Here, we will test the hypothesis that EVs allow chondrocytes to communicate with each other and hormone-producing cells around the body to coordinate normal bone growth and skeletal development.”
Phillip Newton
Are extracellular vesicles a new communication network directing skeletal growth?
Grant amount: DKK 8,160,172