小鼠广泛用于骨骼生物学研究,在评估实验扰动的功能影响时,通过机械测试评估其骨骼是至关重要的一步。例如,基因敲除可能针对骨形成中重要的通路,并导致“低骨量”表型。但是骨架承受功能载荷的程度如何;例如,骨骼在加载过程中会变形多少,骨骼对骨折的抵抗力如何?通过对骨骼形态学的系统评估,光密度,和机械性能,研究人员可以建立“生物力学机制”,从而通过实验扰动改变全骨的机械功能。这篇综述的目的是阐明这些生物力学机制,并为系统地评估小鼠骨骼的表型变化提出建议。重点是长骨骨干和皮质骨。Further,提出了测试条件和结果变量的最低可报告标准,这将改善研究之间的数据比较。回顾了基本的生物力学原理,其次是横截面形态特性的描述,这些特性最好地告知给定实验扰动的净细胞效应,并且与生物力学功能最相关。虽然形态学很关键,全骨力学性能只能通过力学试验准确测定。刚度的功能重要性,最大负载,postyield位移,并对从工作到断裂进行了回顾。因为骨骼和体型通常密切相关,详细说明了调整体重的全骨特性的策略。最后,使用真实数据呈现了一个全面的框架,并回顾了文献中的几个例子,以说明如何合成形态学,组织水平,和小鼠长骨的全骨力学性能。
Mice are widely used in studies of skeletal biology, and assessment of their bones by mechanical testing is a critical step when evaluating the functional effects of an experimental perturbation. For example, a gene knockout may target a pathway important in bone formation and result in a \"low bone mass\" phenotype. But how well does the skeleton bear functional loads; eg, how much do bones deform during loading and how resistant are bones to fracture? By systematic evaluation of bone morphological, densitometric, and mechanical properties, investigators can establish the \"biomechanical mechanisms\" whereby an experimental perturbation alters whole-bone mechanical function. The goal of this review is to clarify these biomechanical mechanisms and to make recommendations for systematically evaluating phenotypic changes in mouse bones, with a focus on long-bone diaphyses and cortical bone. Further, minimum reportable standards for testing conditions and outcome variables are suggested that will improve the comparison of data across studies. Basic biomechanical principles are reviewed, followed by a description of the cross-sectional morphological properties that best inform the net cellular effects of a given experimental perturbation and are most relevant to biomechanical function. Although morphology is critical, whole-bone mechanical properties can only be determined accurately by a mechanical test. The functional importance of stiffness, maximum load, postyield displacement, and work-to-fracture are reviewed. Because bone and body size are often strongly related, strategies to adjust whole-bone properties for body mass are detailed. Finally, a comprehensive framework is presented using real data, and several examples from the literature are reviewed to illustrate how to synthesize morphological, tissue-level, and whole-bone mechanical properties of mouse long bones.