Aims. Knee osteoarthritis (OA) involves a variety of tissues in the joint.
Objectives. The molecular mechanism of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains elusive. We conducted a protein-protein interaction network-based integrative analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and
Abstract. Introduction. Risk factors for osteoarthritis include raised BMI and female gender. Whether these two factors influenced synovial
Introduction. Within the intervertebral disc (IVD), nucleus pulposus (NP) cells reside within a unique microenvironment. Factors such as hypoxia, osmolality, pH and the presence of cytokines all dictate the function of NP cells and as such the cells must adapt to their environment to survive. Previously we have identified the expression of aquaporins (AQP) within human IVD tissue. AQPs allow the movement of water across the cell membrane and are important in cellular homeostasis. Here we investigated how AQP
Aims. Impaired fracture repair in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is not fully understood. In this study, we aimed to characterize the local changes in
Paget’s disease of bone is a common disorder characterised by focal areas of increased bone resorption coupled to increased and disorganised bone formation. Pagetic osteoclasts have been studied extensively, however, due to the integral cross-talk between osteoclasts and osteoblasts, we propose that pagetic osteoblasts may also play a key role in the pathogenesis of Paget’s disease. Any phenotypic changes in the diseased osteoblasts are likely to result from alterations in the expression levels of specific genes. To determine any differences in expression between pagetic and non-pagetic osteoblasts and their precursors the
Background. Hyaluronan (HA) promotes extracellular matrix (ECM) production and inhibits the activity of matrix degrading enzymes in chondrocytes. The meniscus is composed of the avascular inner and vascular outer regions. Inner meniscus cells have a chondrocytic phenotype compared with outer meniscus cells. In this study, we examined the effect of HA on chondrocytic
Introduction and Aims: Assessment of the metabolic state of articular cartilage (AC) is important in understanding the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis (OA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in
Introduction. The biological pathways responsible for adverse reactions to metal debris (ARMD) are unknown. Necrotic and inflammatory changes in response to Co-Cr nanoparticles in periprosthetic tissues may involve both a cytotoxic response and a type IV delayed hypersensitivity response. Our aim was to establish whether differences in biological cascade activation exists in tissues of patients with end-stage OA compared to those with aseptic loosening of a metal on polyethylene (MoP) THR and those with ARMD from metal-on-metal (MoM) THR. Patients & Methods. A microarray experiment (Illumina HT12-v4) was performed to identify the range of differential
Abstract. Introduction. It is increasingly evident that synovium may play a larger role in the aetiology of osteoarthritis. We compared
Introduction Paget’s disease of bone is a common disorder characterised by focal areas of increased bone resorption by osteoclasts and disorganised bone formation by osteoblasts. Because there is integral cross-talk between osteoclasts and osteoblasts during normal bone remodelling, we propose that Pagetic osteoblasts may also play a key role in the pathogenesis of Paget’s disease. Any phenotypic changes in the diseased osteoblasts are likely to result from alterations in the expression levels of specific genes. Methods To determine any differences in expression between Pagetic and non-Pagetic osteoblasts and their precursors the
Articular cartilage (AC) has a poor innate healing capacity following significant injury. Autologous chondrocyte implantation is a repair technique which utilises in vitro-expanded chondrocytes combined with a periosteal patch. The chondrocytes are enzymatically digested from arthroscopically harvested tissue at an initial surgery and expanded in monolayer culture prior to implantation at a second procedure. Unfortunately, in vitro expanded chondrocytes appear unable to retain their fundamental phenotype resulting in dedifferentiated cells which produce a matrix of inferior quality. This study compares the matrix-component
Aim: To determine the pattern of
Aim. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the in vivo expression of virulence and metabolic genes of Staphylococcus aureus in a prosthetic joint infection in a human subject. Method. Deep RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used for transcriptome profile of joint fluid obtained from a patient undergoing surgery due to acute S. aureus prosthetic joint infection. The S. aureus
Introduction and Aims: Establishing pathogenic mechanisms that are important for OA progression would support development of therapies to delay arthoplasty and extend the life of the joint. The aim of this study was to define a human model system for comparing minimal and advanced OA cartilage at the tissue, cellular, and molecular level. Method: Cartilage was isolated from femoral condyles of patients undergoing knee arthroplasty, with advanced OA cartilage obtained from areas within 1cm of overt lesions, and minimal OA cartilage taken from areas with no obvious surface defects. Representative histological sections were scored for disease severity based on four categories: fibrillation, chondrocyte cloning, matrix depletion and cellularity using Bioquant Nova v5.00.8 software. The proteoglycan and hydroxyproline content of the cartilage was determined by biochemical analysis. Following RNA isolation and reverse transcription, the cDNA was analysed for relative
Introduction and Aims: Aberrations in the balance of chondrocyte metabolism play an integral role in the degeneration of articular cartilage and subsequent osteoarthritis.
Objectives. This study aimed to investigate time-dependent gene expression
of injured human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and to evaluate
the histological changes of the ACL remnant in terms of cellular
characterisation. Methods. Injured human ACL tissues were harvested from 105 patients undergoing
primary ACL reconstruction and divided into four phases based on
the period from injury to surgery. Phase I was <
three weeks,
phase II was three to eight weeks, phase III was eight to 20 weeks,
and phase IV was ≥ 21 weeks.
Treatment of segmental bone defects remains a major clinical problem, and innovative strategies are often necessary to successfully reconstruct large volumes of bone. When fractures occur, the resulting hematoma serves as a reservoir for growth factors and a space for cell infiltration, both crucial to the initiation of bone healing. Our previous studies have demonstrated very clear ultrastructural differences between fracture hematomas formed in normally healing fractures and those formed in segmental bone defects. However, there is little information available regarding potential differences in the underlying
Introduction: Our group has previously reported on microarray
Introduction Aberrations in the balance of chondrocyte metabolism play an integral role in the degeneration of articular cartilage and subsequent arthritis.