Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41394616›Full record

ArticlebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

Modifications to the gut microbiome alter bone matrix proteomics and fracture toughness at the cellular scale.

N K Hunt, C Liu, J Liu, Q Tang, S J Stephen, B Wang, C A Schurman, C D King, Q Liu, D Vashisth and 3 more

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

N K HuntDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-8176-3631
C LiuSibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.ORCID 0009-0008-8302-6543
J LiuSibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Q TangSibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
S J StephenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
B WangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
C A SchurmanBuck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA.
C D KingBuck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA.
Q LiuBuck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA.
D VashisthDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.
B SchillingBuck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9907-2749
M HassaniSibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
C J HernandezDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Funding

The mechanistic control of bone quality and joint crosstalk by osteocytesR01DE019284 · NIDCR · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI HERNANDEZ, CHRISTOPHER JOHN · 2009 to 2024
$7.6M
The Microbiome and Bone StrengthR01AG067997 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI HERNANDEZ, CHRISTOPHER JOHN · 2021 to 2025
$3.2M
Using In Vitro Culture to Detect Changes in Bone Matrix Mechanical PropertiesR21AR085253 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Christopher John Hernandez · 2025 to 2026
$382k
NIAMS NIH HHS R21 AR085253NIA NIH HHS R01 AG067997NIDCR NIH HHS R01 DE019284
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The gut microbiome can regulate the strength of bone matrix but the specific changes in matrix function and composition are not yet understood. Here we introduce micropillar splitting to determine the fracture toughness of matrix at the cellular scale in concert with proteomic analysis of bone matrix when the gut microbiome was altered by oral antibiotics (ampicillin+neomycin). Male mice were divided into four groups (n = 3-4/group): (1) Unaltered (no alteration), (2) Continuous (alteration from 4-24 weeks), (3) Delayed (alteration from 16-24 weeks) and (4) Reconstituted (alteration from 1-16 weeks following by reconstitution). Micropillars (5 μm diameter) were fabricated using focused ion beam milling on femur cross-sections in regions of matrix formed either before or after changes in the microbiome (16 weeks) (n = 4/group). Proteomics was used to identify differences in matrix protein composition. Micropillar fracture toughness differed by group (p < 0.001) and region (p < 0.001). Fracture toughness in the Unaltered group (1.34 ± 0.32 MPa√m, mean ± SD) was substantially greater than the Continuous group (0.95 ± 0.20) and the Delayed group (0.90 ± 0.21) but not different from the Reconstituted group (1.22 ± 0.25). Bone matrix formed from 16-24 weeks of age had lower fracture toughness than matrix formed before 16 weeks of age in all groups. Notably, micropillar splitting was substantially more precise than whole bone testing; whole bone notched 3-point bending tests did not detect differences in fracture toughness. Proteomics identified 46 extracellular matrix proteins that were differentially abundant between groups, including decreased abundance of Periostin (q < 0.001) and Emilin-1 (q < 0.001) in groups with impaired bone matrix. These findings demonstrate that modifications to the gut microbiome lead to changes in bone matrix throughout cortical bone volume and establish micropillar splitting as a high-precision approach for characterizing matrix material properties.

Indexed as

bone biomechanicsfracture toughnessmatrixmicrobiomeproteomics

Identifiers

PMID41394616
PMCPMC12697349

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.