Scientists identify cause of cartilage degeneration
Progressive deterioration of the cartilage is the hallmark of osteoarthritis. A team of scientists, led by the Scripps Research Institute, recently identified a protein on the surface of joint cartilage that declines with age, leading to the progressive erosion of the cartilage.
This protein, called HMGB2, is uniquely expressed on the outermost layer of cartilage in joints. With the decline of HMGB2, the superficial layer starts to deteriorate, then osteoarthritis sets in, eventually leading to the loss of underlying layers of cartilage until bones begin to grind painfully against each other.
A drug that can prevent or stop the loss of this protein may be developed as a new therapeutics for osteoarthritis. Scientists are also interested in engineering stem cells to grow replacement cartilage in the lab that could be used to replace damaged cartilage.
“As our population ages, osteoarthritis will become an ever-greater health issue,” says the Scripps Research Professor Martin Lotz, M.D., a world-renowned arthritis researcher. “Everyone eventually gets osteoarthritis; even those people who are not functionally impaired by the disease are found to have cartilage damage. And it all starts with the loss of cells in the superficial layer. We now have a starting point for potential prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.”
