A Cell-Based Analysis Platform to Screen Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods against Osteoporosis

该项目将建立一种新的工具，用于识别可用于预防或治疗骨质疏松症的食物成分。新工具将采用细胞培养系统的形式，其中包含人类骨细胞。这些细胞将在实验室条件下培养，在实验室条件下，它们显示出与骨质疏松症发展相关的活动。当骨细胞接触到新的食物材料时，这些活动就会被测量出来，这样系统就能识别出那些如果纳入饮食中可能对健康有益的食物成分。新测试系统的一个重要特点是能够对骨细胞施加机械应力，就像人体内不断发生的那样。这一创新将促使骨细胞在培养物中表现得像在骨骼中一样，这样做应该可以使食物测试结果准确地预测它们的健康益处。在这样做的过程中，这种新的实验室工具将减少对新食品进行动物试验的需要，并使功能性食品的营养试验更具成本效益，通过早期选择可能对健康有益的候选物，并在产生重大费用之前淘汰那些注定失败的候选物。

The project will build a new tool for the identification of food constituents which can be used to prevent or treat osteoporosis. The new tools will be in the form of a cell culture system which contains human bone cells. These cells will be cultured under laboratory conditions in which they display activities relevant to the development of osteoporosis. These activities will be measured when the bone cells are exposed to new food materials, so that the system identifies those food constituents which may bring health benefit if incorporated into the diet. An important feature of the new test system will be the ability to apply mechanical stress to the bone cells, just as happens constantly in the body. This innovation will encourage bone cells to behave in culture as they do when inside the bone, and in doing so, should make food test results predict accurately their health benefit. In doing so, this new laboratory tool will reduce the need for animal testing of new foodstuffs, and make nutritional trials of functional foods more cost-effective, through early selection of candidates likely to give health-benefit, and de-selecting those destined to fail before major expense is incurred.