Abstract
Adaptive phenotypes that model human disease states are rare. However, such evolutionary model organisms have the potential to be powerful representations of pathologic processes, since they occur independent of laboratory manipulation. It was hypothesized that dermal ectopic bone (osteoderms) produced naturally in the skin of alligators is such an evolutionary model for studying heterotopic ossification (HO), a spectrum of soft tissue mineralization disorders. Indeed, striking similarities between inherited types of HO in humans and the ontogeny of osteoderms in early life stage alligators were identified. Classical histological staining and immunohistochemistry showed that osteoderms develop via intramembranous ossification of the dermis, similar to the inherited HO disorder Progressive Osseous Heteroplasia (POH). Osteoderm development shared other mechanistic similarities with another inherited HO disorder, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), namely the derivation of osteoblasts from endothelial cell precursors via endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. A detailed mapping of the morphological, cellular, and genetic overlap between osteoderm development and HO lesion formation is ongoing, and it is predicted that alligators will emerge as a tractable model organism through which to study many different types of HO, both inherited and acquired. Support or Funding Information Research was supported by an Organized Research Grant from the Office of Faculty Research at Tarleton State University. Osteoderms (red) develop in the skin of alligators and share developmental similarities with heterotopic ossified lesions. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.
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