About OBELICS
The OBELICS Consortium
OBELICS is a German-French consortium, which is dealing with the epigenetics of osteoporosis. The comprehensive topic of this binational initiative is research on the epigenomics of common and age-related diseases.
Funding
On the French side it is funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche ANR, on the German side the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung BMBF is the funding body. Osteoporosis is a complex, systemic, age-related skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and quality, resulting in fragility fractures, increased morbidity and mortality.
Background
Osteoporosis has a strong genetic background, which however cannot explain the total risk for osteoporotic fractures. Aging is another relevant risk factor for osteoporosis. There is increasing evidence that both aging and osteoporosis are influenced by epigenetic factors. Epigenetic mechanisms regulate the accessibility of our genome and are capable of controlling short time mechanisms of adaptation to life challenges and requirements. The OBELICS consortium characterizes bone marrow derived stem cells in elderly patients with severe osteoporosis with respect to epigenetic changes in order to find new regulatory mechanisms for the age-related adaptation of tissue regeneration.
Aims
Our aims are to unravel the underlying molecular mechanisms and to identify novel treatment targets, which are capable of enhancing tissue regeneration and even tissue rejuvenation.
National and international research programs
Research in the OBELICS consortium is part of national and international research strategies about healthy aging.
