Musculoskeletal Atlas of Paediatric tissue (MAP)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Musculoskeletal Atlas of Paediatric tissue (MAP)
IRAS ID
337621
Contact name
Sarah Snelling
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford (Research, Governance, Ethics and Assurance Team)
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 1 days
Research summary
Our musculoskeletal system is essential for movement and to give our body structure. The system is made up of bones (skeleton) and soft connective tissues (muscles, tendons, cartilage and ligaments )that enable the skeleton to move. These tissues contain cells that work together to help the tissue function and grow normally. Our musculoskeletal system changes continuously from infancy to adulthood, with each tissue type changing in both size and shape, and they become less effective at repairing themselves when injured.
Our musculoskeletal system constitutes so much of our bodies it is unsurprising that it can often be the site of disease and injury, even in childhood. Many different types of disease can affect our bones and connective tissues including cancers, developmental disorders (e.g. hip dysplasia, scoliosis), genetic diseases (e.g. muscular dystrophy) and injuries like fractures and ligament tears due to trauma. Currently we do not have effective treatments for all these diseases and injuries. In order to develop improved treatments we need to better understand the composition and organisation of healthy musculoskeletal tissues. This ‘map’ of healthy tissues will help us to identify the molecules and cells that are important for keeping a tissue healthy. We can also compare this map of a healthy tissue to maps of diseased tissue. If we know which cells are present when tissues are healthy and which are present when tissues are injured or diseased we can better identify what is causing disease. When we identify the changes that occur between health, injury and disease we can design and test treatments that make the cells work together to repair tissues. We could also use these maps to test new treatments when tissue is already diseased.REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
24/ES/0066
Date of REC Opinion
15 Oct 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion