It is possible that movement therapy can become part of the treatment protocol for scoliosis, hip dislocation and other skeletal deformities, the treatment of which is currently generally based on the restriction of movement
Distortions in the skeleton may disrupt body movement, but surprisingly the opposite is also true: disruptions in movement may distort skeletal development. Weizmann Institute of Science scientists Showed recently Because mutations in the proprioception system - the self-sensing of our body parts and their movement, sometimes referred to as the "sixth sense" - can lead to skeletal problems, such as juvenile scoliosis or congenital dislocation of the hip joint.
Prof. Eli Seltzer from the Department of Molecular Genetics Shown in previous studies Because the proprioception system plays a role in healing broken bones and maintains the proper position of the developing skeleton and its health. In his laboratory they discovered, among other things, that the developing bones depend on the proper functioning of mechanical sensing receptors called muscle spindles; Neural structures found in our muscles that report a change in length to the proprioception system.
In the new study, the orthopedist Dr. Eran Asraf from the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh), who was a research student in Prof. Seltzer's laboratory, discovered a molecular mechanism that plays a key role in transmitting mechanical signals from the muscles to the nerve cells of the proprioception system. Dr. Asraf and his colleagues focused on the garden Piezo2 which regulates the passage of positive ions through the cell membrane and responds to mechanical stimuli. Defects in this gene have previously been discovered in humans with skeletal deformities, but since the gene is expressed in many types of cells and tissues, it was not clear whether it is indeed related to these deformities and how they are formed.
To find out, the scientists created several types of transgenic mice, in each of which the gene was silenced Piezo2 in a different type of cell. When the gene was silenced in bone cells of the osteoblast type or in cartilage cells of the chondroblast type, no skeletal deformities were observed in the mice in their adulthood. But when the scientists silenced the gene in nerve cells of the proprioception system - found in the muscle's skills and elsewhere - the transgenic mice developed scoliosis and dislocation of the hip joint. The deformities were similar to those recorded in humans with mutations in the same gene.
Because the proprioception system is so essential to skeletal health, and because it reports changes in muscle length during movement, it may be possible to use movement to alleviate skeletal problems. In other words, it is possible that movement therapy can become part of the treatment protocol for scoliosis, hip dislocation and other skeletal deformities, the treatment of which is currently generally based on the limitation of movement.
The orthopedist Dr. Ronan Belcher from Assuta Ashdod University Hospital participated in the study; Lia Yerushalmi, Sharon Kriaf and Ron Carmel Weinstock from Prof. Seltzer's lab; Dr. Inbal Biton from the Department of Veterinary Resources; Dr. Vlad Brumfeld from the Department of Chemical Research Infrastructures; Dr. Ron Rothkopf from the Department of Life Sciences Research Infrastructures; and Dr. Erez Avisher and Dr. Gabriel Agar from Shamir Medical Center (Asaf Harofeh).
