Email
mpm4@dental.pitt.edu

Phone
412-648-8833; 412-648-8505

Office
347 Salk Hall
3501 Terrace Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Position
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Oral Biology
School of Dental Medicine

Research Interests

1. Tissuglue™ Increases Acute Tensile Strain in Rabbit Muscle Wounds:  The closure of both traumatic and sur­gical wounds is complicated by delayed healing due to continued hemorrhage, hematomas, dehiscence and post-operative scarring due to poor tissue apposition. We have developed a lysine-derived polyurethane ad­hesive that is biodegradable, resorbable and non-toxic. The present study was designed to compare the long-term biomechanical and histological properties of this glue compared to sutures in closing deep muscle incisions.
2. Noggin Inhibits Resynostosis in Craniosynostotic Rabbits:  Craniosynostosis is defined as the pre­mature fusion of one or more of the cranial sutures which causes secondary deformations of the cranial vault, cranial base and brain. Current surgical interven­tions involve extirpation and release of the fused suture to allow unrestricted brain growth. However, resynosto­sis of the extirpated regions typically occurs. The bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are well-described in­ducers of ossification and are involved in bone healing. Noggin is an extracellular inhibitor of BMPs. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that a postoperative treatment with Noggin can inhibit resynostosis in a rab­bit model of human familial non-syndromic craniosynostosis.
3. Noggin-Expressing Muscle-Derived Stem Cells Inhibit Healing Suturecotmy Sites in Mice:  Bone overgrowth is a common clinical correlate in cases of rheumatoid arthritis, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva and craniosynostosis. Increased activity of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) sig­naling pathways has been implicated in such disorders (1). BMP antagonists, therefore, may be useful inhibi­tors of bone overgrowth. Previously, we have shown that retroviral delivery of Noggin, a known BMP antag­onist, inhibits ectopic bone formation in various models of heterotopic ossification (2). The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that ex vivo Noggin gene therapy will inhibit bone formation in a new model of suture resynostosis.

Recent Publications

Fellows-Mayle, W., Mitchell, R., Losken, H.W., Bradley, J., Siegel, M.I., Mooney, M.P. Intracranial pressure changes in craniosynostotic rabbits. Plast. Reconstr. Surg., 2004; 113: 557-565.

Mooney, M.P., Moursi, A.M., Opperman, L.A., Siegel, M.I. Cytokine therapy for craniosynostosis. Exper Opin. Biol. Ther., 2004; 4: 279 - 299.

Marazita, M.L., Mooney, M.P. Current concepts in the embryology and genetics of cleft lip and cleft palate. Clin. in Plast. Surg., 2004; 31:125-40.

Poisson, E., Sciote, J.J., Koepsel, R., Cooper, G.M., Opperman, L.A., Mooney, M.P. TGF-B isoform expression in the perisutural tissues of craniosynostotic rabbits. Cleft Palate-Craniofac. J., 2004; 41: 392-402.

Calvert, J.W., Brenner, K.A., Mooney, M.P., Kumta, P., Weiss, L.E. Cellular fusion of hydroxyapatite layers: Solid freeform fabrication of synthetic bone grafts. Rivista Ital Chir Plast, 2004; 36: 145-150.

Acarturk TO, Azari K, Mooney M, Chang T, Losken HW, Bradley JP. Correction of unilateral coronal synostosis leads to resolution of mandibular asymmetry in rabbits. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2005;115:172-182.

Verschueren, D., Gassner, R., Mitchell, R., Mooney, M.P. The effects of guided tissue regeneration (GTR) on modified LeFort I osteotomy healing in rabbits. Int. J. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2005; 34: 650-655.

Fellows-Mayle, W., Hitchens, T.K., Simplaceanu, E., Horner, J., Barbano, T., Losee, J.E., Losken, H.W., Siegel, M.I., Mooney, M.P. Age-related changes in lateral ventricle morphology in craniosynostotic rabbits. Child’s Nervous System 2005;21:385-391.

Kinzinger, J.H., Smith, T.D.,  Johnson, E.W. Bhatnagar, K.B., Bonar, C.J., Burrows, A.M., Mooney, M.P., Siegel, M.I. Comparative study of lectin reactvity in the vomeronasal organ of human and non-human primates. Anat. Rec., 2005; 284A, 550-560.

Losee JE, Feldman E, Ketkar M, Singh D, Kirschner RE, Westesson P-L, Cooper G, Mooney MP, Bartlett SP. Non-synostotic occipital plagiocephaly: radiographic diagnosis of the “sticky suture”.  Plast Reconstr Surg, 2005; 116: 1860-1869.

Weinberg SM, Putz DA, Mooney MP, Siegel MI. Evaluation of non-metric variation in the crania of black and white perinates. Forensic Sci Int, 2005; 151: 177-185.

Smith TD, Rossie JB, Cooper GM, Mooney MP, Siegel MI. Secondary pneumatization in the maxillary sinus of callitrichid primates: Insights from immunohistochemistry and bone cell distribution. Anat Rec., Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2005; 285:677-689.

Premaraj S, Mundy B, Morgan D, Winnard PL, Mooney MP, Moursi AM. Sustained delivery of bioactive cytokine using a dense collagen gel vehicle. Archives of Oral Biology, 2006; 51: 325-333.                 

Cooper, G.M., Singhal, V.K., Barbano, T., Wigginton, W., Rabold, T. Losken, H.W., Siegel, M.I., Mooney, M.P. Intracranial volume changes in craniosynostotic rabbits: Effects of age and surgical correction. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2006;117:1886-1890

Weinberg, S.M. Neiswanger, K., Martin R., Mooney, M.P., Kane, A., Wenger, S., Losee, J., Deleyiannis, F., Tunçbilek, G., Ma, L.,  De Salamanca, J.E., Czeizel, A., Marazita, M.L.The Pittsburgh Oral-Facial Cleft (POFC) Study: Expanding the cleft phenotype. Part 1. Justification and study design. Cleft Palate-Craniofacial J., Cleft Palate Craniofac J 2006; 43: 7-20

Caccamese, Jr., J. F., Costello, B.J., Mooney, M.P. A novel deformity of the mandible in oculoauriculovertebral spectrum: a case report and literature review. J. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2006; 64: 1278-1282.

Fellows-Mayle, W., Hitchens, T.K., Simplaceanu, E., Horner, J., Barbano, T., Losee, J.E., Losken, H.W., Siegel, M.I., Mooney, M.P. Testing causal mechanisms of nonsyndromic craniosynostosis using path analysis of cranial contents in rabbits with uncorrected craniosynostosis. Cleft Palate-Craniofac. J.,. 2006; 43: 524-531.

Downey PA, Barbano T, Rupali K, Sciote JJ, Siegel MI,  Mooney MP. Craniosacral therapy: The effects of cranial manipulation on intracranial pressure and cranial bone movement.  J. Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2006; 36: 845-853.

Dudas JR, Losee JE, Cooper GM, Penascino VM, Mooney MP, Jiang S, Rubin JP, and Marra KG.  The Osteogenic potential of adipose-derived stem cells for the repair of rabbit calvarial defects.  Annals of Plastic Surgery, 2006; 56:543-548.

Gabbay JS, Heller J, Spoon DB, Mooney MP, Acarturk O, Askari M, Wasson KL, Bradley JP. Noggin underexpression and runx-2 overexpression in a craniosynostosis rabbit model.Ann Plast Surg, 2006; 56:306-31.

Mooney, M.P., Losken, H.W., Moursi, A., Bradley, J., Azari, K., Acarturk, O., Cooper, G.M., Thompson, B., Opperman, L.A., Siegel, M.I., Anti-Tgf-β2 antibody therapy inhibits postoperative resynostosis in craniosynostotic rabbits. Plast Reconstr Surg, in press.

Nair MK, Nair UP, Seyedain A, Gassner R, Piesco N, Mooney MP, Ganta S, Agarwal S.  Correlation of Tuned Aperture Computed Tomography (TACT) with Computed Tomography (CT) for evaluation of osseous healing in calvarial defects. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2007:103:267-273. 

Mooney, M.P., Siegel, M.I. Animal models for bone tissue engineering of critical-sized defects (CSDs), bone pathologies, and orthopedic disease states. In: Hollinger, J.O., Einhorn, T.A., Doll, B.A., Sfeir C. (Eds.). Fundamentals of Bone Tissue Engineering, C.R.C. Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2005; 217-244.

Mooney, M.P. Book review of “Human Osteology & Skeletal Radiology: An Atlas and Guide”. American J. of Human Biology, 2005; 17: 665-666.

Mooney, M.P., Siegel, M.I. Animal models for bone tissue engineering. In: Wnek, G. and Bowlin, G. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. Marcel Dekker, New York, 2005, 1-19.

Marra, K.G.; Mooney, M.P.; Hollinger, J.O., Tissue Engineering of Craniofacial Structures. In Ma, P.X.; Elisseeff, J. (Eds.) Scaffolding in Tissue Engineering. Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL, 2005, pp. 455-472.

Mooney, M.P., Shand, J., Mitchell, R., Moursi, A.M., Winnard, P., Caccamese, J., Costello, B.J., Cooper, G.M., Barbano, R., Losken, H.W., Opperman, L.A., Siegel, M.I.. Suture Fusion Rescue with Tgf-β2 Antibody in Craniosynostotic Rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2004; 83 (spec. issue A): 2558.

Abstracts

Dunlavey KD Sciote JJ, Cooper GM,  Quinlan, K, Barbano, TE, Mooney MP. FGF-receptor expression in the perisutural tissues of craniosynostotic rabbits. 2004; 83 (spec. issue A): 2558. J. Dent. Res., 14.

Cooper GM, Peng H, Usas A, Mooney MP, Huard J.Muscle-derived stem cells expressing Noggin inhibit cranial defect healing. J. Dent. Res., 2004; 83 (spec. issue A): 18.

Caccamese J, Shand JM, Sciote JJ, Mitchell R, Cooper GM, Costello BJ, Mooney MP. Bone morphogenic protein expression in perisutural tissues of craniosynostotic rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2004; 83 (spec. issue A): 2561.

Hanzon JD, Ganta S, Shand J, Gassner R, Barbano TE, Cooper GM, Verschueren D, Costello BJ, Agarwal S, Mooney MP. Guided Tissue Regeneration using Osteoinductive Polyurethane Membranes in Rabbit Maxillary Osteotomies. J. Dent. Res., 2004; 83 (spec. issue A): 1517.

Cooper, G.M., Peng, H. Usas, A., Mooney, M.P., Huard, J. Noggin gene-based therapy inhibits cranial defect healing in mice. Gene Ther., 2004.

Gassner R, Piesco N, Seyedain A, Nair M, Mooney M, Agarwal S. Considering polymer compositions in tissue engineered grafts on bone formation in calvarial defects. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery 2004; 32 (suppl 1) : 73.

Caccamese J, Shand JM, Sciote JJ, Mitchell R, Cooper GM, Costello BJ, Mooney MP. Differential expression of bone morphogenic protein in the perisutural tissues of normal and craniosynostotic rabbits. J. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2004; 62 (suppl 1): 60 - 61.

Morrison M, Shand J, Moursi AM, Winnard P, Cooper GM, Caccamese J, Costello BJ, Opperman LA, Losken HW, Siegel MI, Mooney MP. Rescue of premature coronal suture fusion with Tgf-b2 neutralizing antibody in rabbits with delayed onset synostosis. J. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2004; 62 (suppl 1): 56.

Ho L, Shand, J. Moursi, A, Burrows, A, Caccamese J, Costello BJ, Morrison, M, Cooper, GM, Barbano, T, Losken, HW, Opperman, LM, Siegel MI, Mooney MP. Craniofacial Growth Following Cytokine Therapy in Craniosynostotic Rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2005; 84 (spec. issue A): 1270.

Mooney MP, Downey PA, Barbano T, Rupali K, Gunnell ME, Sciote JJ, Siegel MI. Craniosacral therapy: Is there biology behind the practice? J. Dent. Res., 2005; 84 (spec. issue A): 1287.

Cooper GM, Mooney MP, Barbano T, Caccamese J, Morrisson M, Gunnell ME, Costello BJ, Losee J, Siegel MI, Moursi A, Mundy B, Huard J. Noggin inhibits resynostosis in craniosynostotic rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2005; 84 (spec. issue A): 2828.

Curry C, Cooper, GM,  Losken HW,  Moursi AM, Bradley J, Azari K, Acarturk O, Shand J, Opperman LA, Siegel MI,  Mooney MP. Craniofacial Growth following Anti-Tgf-b2 Antibody Therapy in Synostotic Rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2005; 84 (spec. issue A): 1310.

Thompson BC, Cooper, GM,  Losken HW,  Moursi AM, Bradley J, Azari K, Acarturk O, Shand J, Opperman LA, Siegel MI,  Mooney MP. Suturectomy Site Healing Following Anti-Tgf-b2 Antibody Therapy in Craniosynostotic Rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2005; 84 (spec. issue A): 1321.

Hyre MA, Weinberg SM, Quilin K, Mooney MP, Siegel MI. Fluctuating Asymmetry in Craniosynostotic Rabbit Dentition: Measuring Developmental Instability. J. Dent. Res., 2005; 84 (spec. issue A): 1311.

Gassner R, Ganta S, Piesco N, Mooney M, Agarwal S. Knochen-Tissue-Engineering mit BMP’s als Ersatz der Knochentransplantation in kraniofazialen Defekten. Österr. MKG- Chirurgie-Kongreß Abstraktband. 2005; 9: 51-52.

Gassner R, Verschueren D, Mitchell R, Mooney M  Knochenrekonstruktion an der Osteotomielinie nach modifizierter Le Fort I Osteotomie im experimentellen Kaninchenmodell. Österr. MKG-Chirurgie-Kongreß Abstraktband 2005; 9: 83-84.

Norbutt, C, Cooper GM, Barbano T, Caccamese J, Morrisson M, Gunnell ME, Costello BJ, Losee J, Siegel MI, Moursi A, Huard J, Mooney MP.  Noggin inhibits resynostosis in craniosynostotic rabbits. J. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2005; 63 (suppl 1): 50.

Popodapolous H, Morrison, M, Ho L, Shand, J. Moursi, A, Burrows, A, Caccamese J, Costello BJ, Cooper, GM, Barbano, T, Losken, HW, Opperman, LM, Siegel MI, Mooney MP. Coronal suture fusion with Tgf-beta2 neutralizing antibody and craniofacial growth in rabbits with delayed onset synostosis. J. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2005; 63 (suppl 1): 64-65.

Hyre MA, Weinberg SM, Radtke JM, Rode EA, Goldstein-McHenry TH,  Siegel MI, Mooney MP. Asymmetrical dentition in rabbits with naturally-occurring premature coronal suture synostosis. J. Dent. Res., 2006; 85, Special Issue A: 2215.

Curry C, Cooper GM, Barbano T, Burrows A, Vecchione L, Norbutt C, Papadopoulos H, Costello BJ, Losee JE, Siegel MI, Moursi AM, Huard J, Mooney MP. Craniofacial Growth Following Postoperative Noggin Protein Therapy in Craniosynostotic Rabbits. J. Dent. Res., 2006; 85, Special Issue A: 1750.

Thompson, B, Cooper, GM, Barbano, T, Norbutt, C,  Papadopoulas, H, Costello BJ, Losee, JE, Moursi, AM, Siegel, MI, Huard, J, Mooney, MP.  Suturectomy Site Healing Following Noggin Protein Therapy in Craniosynostotic Rabbits. J. Dent. Res.,2006; 85, Special Issue A: 797.

Mooney MP, Yeung A, Zhang J, Barbano T, Smith TD, Beckman E, Buckley MJ.Tissuglue™ Increases Acute Tensile Strain in Rabbit Muscle Wounds. J. Dent. Res., 2006; 85, Special Issue A: 647.

Premaraj S, Mundy B, Mooney MP, Moursi A   Inhibition of Rat Cranial Suture Fusion with Plasmid Encoding Tgf-beta3. J. Dent. Res., 2006; 85, Special Issue A: 1223.