It's no coincidence that our bodies feel a little creakier as we age. The trillions of cells that make up our skeleton age too, and some change in ways that weaken the very structure of our bones.

Bone tissue is a complex structure, consisting of mineralized collagen fibers and a variety of non-collagenous proteins, including proteoglycans such as biglycan and decorin. These proteoglycans ...

Each year, doctors treat more than 6 million bone fractures in the United States. And while it takes only a few seconds for a bone to break, the processes that keep your bones strong and allow them to ...

A recent study has uncovered the essential roles of two proteoglycans, biglycan and decorin, in maintaining bone mass, water retention, and bulk/in situ mechanical competence. Through the use of ...

While research has uncovered many details about how blood cells function within bone marrow, the work of other cells existing in that space remained a relative mystery. Now, researchers from the ...

Animal bodies are hierarchically organised from molecules and cells through tissues, organs and whole systems. Cellular architecture—membranes, cytoskeletons and extracellular matrices—provides ...

The From Labs to Lives Blog connects everyday topics with UC Davis research. Each post is reviewed by our experts, ensuring you always get useful information you can trust. Because we can’t see them, ...