Contact
Phone: (416)-624-9961
Email: liang.xu@mail.utoronto.ca
Training
2015 – 2020
PhD. Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
2010-2015
B.A.Sc. Biomedical Systems Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Toronto
Project
Bone remodelling is an important process that is responsible for bone growth and recovery from injuries to the bone, thus understanding the mechanism underlying the process is crucial to finding clinical solutions for many bone disorders, as well as aid in maintaining bone health for professionals such as astronauts (mechanical unloading). It is known that mechanical loading is one of the key factors affecting bone remodelling. There is a need to understand the relationship between the different major cell groups in bone remodelling, namely osteocytes, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts, while unravelling the biology behind this very complicated system. It has recently been discovered that the osteocyte is the main mechano-sensing cell embedded in the bone matrix. Understanding the cellular response of osteocytes to different loading conditions would not only be essential to developments of therapeutic targets for bone related diseases, but also provide pivotal insight into the wound-healing process of bone tissue when physically damaged. Combined with a novel osteocyte cell line, an in vitro microfluidic high throughput platform capable of mimicking in vivo cellular response would be critical for understanding of osteocyte mechanobiology.
Contact
Phone: (416)-624-9961
Email: liang.xu@mail.utoronto.ca
Training
2015 – Present
M.A.Sc. Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
2010-2015
B.A.Sc. Biomedical Systems Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Toronto
Project
Bone remodelling is an important process that is responsible for bone growth and recovery from injuries to the bone, thus understanding the mechanism underlying the process is crucial to finding clinical solutions for many bone disorders, as well as aid in maintaining bone health for professionals such as astronauts (mechanical unloading). It is known that mechanical loading is one of the key factors affecting bone remodelling. There is a need to understand the relationship between the different major cell groups in bone remodelling, namely osteocytes, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts, while unravelling the biology behind this very complicated system. It has recently been discovered that the osteocyte is the main mechano-sensing cell embedded in the bone matrix. Understanding the cellular response of osteocytes to different loading conditions would not only be essential to developments of therapeutic targets for bone related diseases, but also provide pivotal insight into the wound-healing process of bone tissue when physically damaged. Combined with a novel osteocyte cell line, an in vitro microfluidic high throughput platform capable of mimicking in vivo cellular response would be critical for understanding of osteocyte mechanobiology.