The Cassat Lab studies host-pathogen interactions during invasive bacterial infection, with a special emphasis on understanding how infection and inflammation perturb musculoskeletal cell biology. Osteomyelitis (bone infection) is one of the most common invasive bacterial infections in children, and it also occurs frequently in adults after trauma or surgery. The bacterial factors that promote survival in the bone, as well as the host factors that protect from osteomyelitis, are poorly defined. We have developed a variety of tools to understand how bacteria and inflammation trigger changes in bone biology, including a murine model of Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis, high-resolution 3D imaging of bone remodeling, and cell culture models of osteoblast and osteoclast proliferation and function.
