Daniel Bikle, MD, PhD

My research is focused on the hormonal regulation of calcium metabolism, and includes projects involving the classic target tissue of bone as well as non classic tissues such as the skin. The projects  with bone focus on the mechanisms by which parathyroid hormone and insulin like growth factor-1 regulate bone formation and differentiation, the response of bone to mechanical loading and unloading, and the ability of bone to heal fractures. We use a number of cell specific gene deletion models in different cells in the skeleton to address these questions. The projects in skin examine the mechanisms by which calcium and 1,25(OH)2D regulate keratinocyte differentiation, wounding repair, and skin cancer development. We are focusing on the calcium and vitamin D receptors, and the signaling pathways and transcriptional events mediated by their activation and keratinocyte specific deletion.