The tendon-bone interface is critical for the transfer of muscle loads to bone in order to move and stabilize the vertebrate skeleton. The structure and size of the tendon-bone interface is sensitive to changes in muscle loads, yet the mechanisms that guide these adaptations remains largely unknown. This proposal will test the role of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling in the cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous responses of the embryonic and postnatal tendon-bone interface in mice following changes in applied muscle loads.

This R01 from NIAMS started on Aug 15, 2021 and includes co-investigators from UMich (Drs. Ken Kozloff, Susan Brooks, and Kurt Hankenson) and WUSTL (Dr. David Ornitz).