Math Biology Seminar: Svetlana Komorova

The mechanical properties of vertebrate bone are determined by its structure, which in turn depends on the outcome of the process of bone turnover. At any time of our life, asynchronously, at multiple sites in the skeleton, the bone tissue is resorbed by osteoclasts, and the new bone is formed by osteoblasts. The progression of bone remodeling is temporally and spatially regulated by numerous autocrine and paracrine factors, which give rise to complex patterns of system behavior. I will describe our studies to employ mathematical modeling to better understand the consequences of complex interactions between osteoblasts and osteoclasts for the resulting temporal and spatial regulation of bone turnover.