osteoarthritis tagged posts

Yale researchers have identified a drug target that may alleviate joint degeneration associated with osteoarthritis, a debilitating condition that afflicts as many as 30 million people in the United States alone, which they report on Jan. 3 in the journal Nature.

Pain relievers and lifestyle changes, such as exercise and reduced excess weight, have long been the therapies most commonly used to treat the joint stiffness and pain caused by degenerative disease, but there is a pressing need for therapies that can prevent joint breakdown that occurs in osteoarthritis.

It is known that specialized proteins known as sodium channels found in cell membranes produce electrical impulses in “excitable” cells within muscles, the nervous system, and the heart.

And in p...

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Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) scientists have created a promising injectable cell therapy to treat osteoarthritis that both reduces inflammation and also regenerates articular cartilage. Recently identified by the Food and Drug Administration as a public health crisis, osteoarthritis affects more than 520 million people worldwide who deal with pain and inflammation. Osteoarthritis is typically induced by mechanical or traumatic stress in the joint, leading to damaged cartilage that cannot be repaired naturally.Read More

Neutron and light scattering, along with atomic force microscopy and quartz crystal microbalance, illuminate a mechanism explaining the ‘vicious circle’ of osteoarthritis.

The exact mechanism of cartilage breakdown in osteoarthritis is unknown, but damage from mechanical stress with insufficient self-repair is believed to be the main culprit...

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A new study in Aging Cell describes how a key protein called Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) might turn back the clock on aging cartilage that leads to osteoarthritis.

“STAT3 performs an astonishing repertoire of roles in development and regeneration, as well as inflammatory disease and cancer. In this study, we found an innovative chemical approach for reversing aging of joint-forming cells in a clinically relevant manner, because this intervention is simple and fully controlled,” said the study’s co-corresponding author Denis Evseenko, who is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC, and holds the J. Harold and Edna LaBriola Chair in Genetic Orthopedic Research.

“We wanted to ...

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