Teresita M. Bellido, PhD

The Bellido laboratory studies osteocytes and their role in regulating the function of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in response to hormonal and mechanical stimuli. They study the regulation of osteocyte-derived genes by parathyroid hormone (PTH), the mechanisms by which PTH and mechanical force regulate bone homeostasis through actions on osteocytes, and the antagonistic interplay between glucocorticoids and mechanical stimulation in bone. Trainees in the Bellido lab will learn all in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experimental approaches to study osteocytes, including culture of osteocytic cell lines and primary osteocytes, isolation and culture of separate bone cell population, bone organ cultures derived from wild type or genetically modified mice, and the in vivo skeletal responses to osteocyte-specific deletion or overexpression of genes. Trainees will learn all techniques required to assess skeletal phenotypes at the tissue, cell, molecular levels, by analyzing proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and gene expression in osteoblasts, osteoclasts and osteocytes in our in vitro and in vivo models.