Sofia Movérare Skrtic

Institution/Department: Institute of Medicine
Previous studies: University of Gothenburg.
Thesis: The relative importance of sex steroid receptors for bone metabolism.
Research areas: Epigenetics and osteoporosis
Current research: Loss of bone mass along with microarchitectural deterioration leads to enhanced bone fragility and increased fracture risk — the bone disease known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is thought to be a polygenic disorder, determined both by multiple genes and environmental risk factors. Epigenetics are the study of changes in gene expression that are not mediated at the DNA sequence level. The overall aims of my present research are to investigate the role of environmental factors for epigenetics and to determine the impact of epigenetics for osteoporosis. Well-characterized large population-based cohorts of young adults and elderly subjects, respectively, will be used. Global and sequence-specific DNA methylation of candidate genes for osteoporosis will be analyzed. To determine the contribution of environmental factors for epigenetics, we will compare the epigenetics between young and elderly subjects and study how birth weight, duration of breast-feeding, vitamin AD-drops, smoking, physical activity, and dietary intake influence the epigenetics. To investigate the impact of epigenetics for osteoporosis, associations between epigenetics and skeletal phenotypes will be performed. Characterization of environmental factors affecting epigenetics and the importance of epigenetics for skeletal phenotypes might elucidate novel targets for the development of treatments of osteoporosis and increase the understanding of the mechanisms by which environmental factors affect bone mass.

E-mail address: sofia.moverare@medic.gu.se