An optimized protocol for a standardized, femoral osteotomy model to study fracture healing in mice

Shan Jiang; Paul Knapstein; Antonia Donat; Serafeim Tsitsilonis; Johannes Keller

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100798

An optimized protocol for a standardized, femoral osteotomy model to study fracture healing in mice

STAR Protoc. 2021 Sep 8;2(3):100798. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2021.100798. eCollection 2021 Sep 17.

Authors

Shan Jiang¹, Paul Knapstein¹, Antonia Donat¹, Serafeim Tsitsilonis², Johannes Keller¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany.
² Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 13353, Germany.

Abstract

Fracture healing represents a dynamic and complex process which depends on the balanced activities of a broad array of different cell types and signaling pathways. Here, we describe a femoral osteotomy protocol for mice, using an external fixator to stabilize the fractured bone. Depending on experimental requirements, the size of the osteotomy gap can be adjusted. Taken together, this protocol describes a highly standardized and reproducible murine model for morphologic and biomolecular assessment of the fracture healing process. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Appelt et al. (2020).

Keywords: Health Sciences; Model Organisms.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Disease Models, Animal*
External Fixators
Femoral Fractures / surgery*
Femur / injuries
Femur / surgery
Fracture Healing / physiology*
Mice
Osteotomy / methods*