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Estrogen receptor alpha mediates mandibular condylar cartilage growth in male mice
Author(s) -
Robinson J. L.,
Gupta V.,
Soria P.,
Clanaman E.,
Gurbarg S.,
Xu M.,
Chen J.,
Wadhwa S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
orthodontics and craniofacial research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1601-6343
pISSN - 1601-6335
DOI - 10.1111/ocr.12155
Subject(s) - condyle , cartilage , estrogen receptor , endocrinology , estrogen receptor alpha , medicine , estrogen , biology , anatomy , cancer , breast cancer
Structured Abstract Objectives In the appendicular skeleton, estrogen via ER α signalling has been shown to mediate endochondral growth plate fusion in both males and females. However, the role of ER α in mediating growth of the mandibular condylar cartilage is unknown. Thus, this study focuses on the characterization of the mandibular condylar cartilage phenotype in young and adult male ER α KO mice. Setting Columbia University Medical Center. Material and Methods WT and ER α KO C57 BL /6 male mice were sacrificed at 49 days or 9 months for phenotypic analysis. Changes to MCC thickness, cell number and cell density were measured using histomorphometric methods. Cartilage‐specific gene expression and OARSI scores were investigated for 49‐day and 9‐month‐old male ER α KO and WT mice. Results In young mice, a significant increase in the number of mandibular condylar cartilage cells and a significant decrease in the expression of Col10, Runx2 and DMP 1 were observed in the male ER α KO mice compared to WT . In 9‐month‐old mice, we found a similar increase in the number of cells but no change in osteoarthritic histological scoring in ER α KO mice compared to WT mice. Conclusion In summary, estrogen plays a role in mediating mandibular condylar maturation in young male mice. However, according to this study, it does not play a role in mediating long‐term growth or age‐related mandibular condylar cartilage degeneration in males.