Dept. of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London. Supervisor: Dr Paul Martin PhD. MSc awarded by the University of London, with distinction, 1996. This work investigated the nature of mammalian foetal fracture healing in utero. A compound ‘pinch’ fracture was created in the foetal mouse ulna at the end of the second trimester, prior to mineralisation, and healing was observed in whole mount limbs and in histological section. Cartilaginous ends gained initial contact within a perichondrial sleeve by 24 hours. Bony union was achieved within 48 hours by cartilage remodelling during the phase of primary endochondral ossification in the limb, a process to which adult fracture healing aspires. The molecular response to wounding was investigated using a whole mount in situ hybridisation technique and antisense mRNA probes to three target genes (Bmp-2, Bmp-4 and Gdf-5). These experiments demonstrated unaltered expression in wounded limbs compared with controls.
Surgical Research Award: bursary awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in support of work investigating healing of the foetal skeleton, University College London 1996. Distinction: awarded following assessment by thesis and examinations in experimental embryology of vertebrates and advanced cytology, for the degree of MSc (Surgical Science), 1996.
Skeletal repair in the foetus: Presented to BAPS summer meeting 1996.
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