# NG2/CSPG4 in Mandibular Endochondral Fracture Healing

> **NIH NIH F30** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2024 · $54,774

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This application represents a training plan designed to provide mentoring, career development, and support to
the applicant as a clinician-scientist seeking to move research from the benchtop to the bedside in craniofacial
and oral sciences. The training plan encompasses laboratory experimentation and professional and career
development opportunities, and the plan is supported by the outstanding local and institutional resources
available at UIC. The proposed research will address an important unmet clinical need facing craniofacial
trauma. While the mandible is the strongest and largest facial bone, there is a high level of incidence for
mandibular fractures. Unstable mandibular fractures exhibit delayed healing compared to fixed fractures, and
their healing involves a chondrocyte-to-osteoblast developmental pathway that is not yet fully understood.
Understanding the specific molecular pathways that control fracture resolution is important for improving
clinical outcomes and the development of new therapeutics. The focus of this study is on a transmembrane
proteoglycan, NG2/CSPG4. This molecule has been implicated in the mechanical response of mandibular
chondrocytes in the temporomandibular joint and the progression of osteoarthritis, but it has not been studied
in the context of endochondral fracture healing. The research plan in this proposal utilizes a preclinical murine
model of endochondral fracture healing in the mandible, together with transgenic knockout animal models, to
define the role of NG2/CSPG4 in the cell differentiation cascade that is required for the successful
mineralization of a fracture callus. The proposed research plan will test the central hypothesis that mechanical
loading-dependent NG2/CSPG4 signaling regulates the differentiation of osteochondral progenitor cells during
endochondral ossification in mandibular fractures. Long-term, our goal is to understand how cells make
decisions about their fate during bone regeneration. Aim 1 will evaluate the role of NG2/CSPG4 in the ability of
osteochondral progenitor cells to differentiate into cartilage. Aim 2 will focus on the role of NG2/CSPG4 in the
ability of cartilage cells to undergo mineralization. Together, the data generated from this project will address
an important gap in knowledge surrounding mandibular fracture healing and bone biology more broadly and
may identify a new therapeutic target for clinical intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10926829
- **Project number:** 5F30DE033287-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan Matthew Banks
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $54,774
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10926829

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10926829, NG2/CSPG4 in Mandibular Endochondral Fracture Healing (5F30DE033287-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10926829. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*