Dr. Mandelbaum shares his perspective new research treatments that may enhance regeneration of osteoarthritis-damaged cartilage
Article Link: Osteoarthritis: Scientists design molecules to boost cartilage repair (medicalnewstoday.com)
OsteoarthritisΒ is a chronic condition that affects joints and can lead to cartilage degradation.
Current treatment options for osteoarthritis often focus on symptom management, but researchers are also interested in what would need to happen for cartilage repair to take place.
One area of interest is the possibility of using the protein transforming growth factor (TGF)-Ξ²1 to assist with cartilage repair and in what circumstances this protein can be most effective.
A study recently published in theΒ Journal of theΒ American Chemical SocietyΒ examined applying a mimic of the TGF-Ξ²1 peptide with a circular structure to induce cartilage repair.
Researchers found that a version of the TGF-Ξ²1 peptide mimic that was designed to have freer movement led to the best results.
The researchers essentially turned their assemblies into what they dub βdancing molecules,β which they found to be more effective at stimulating cartilage repair.
βWe changed the structure of the molecules to activate the motion of molecules. We had discovered back in 2021 that the motion of molecules is very important in making them very effective at signaling cells,β Stupp explained.
The current study βwas the second discovery that this motion of the molecules is important in completely different biology,β he told us. βWe verified that the supramolecular motion is also important in cartilage. We tested it in human cartilage cells [and] found that the motion of the molecules made them [cartilage cells] produce larger amounts of the components of cartilage tissue.β
Overall, the results show promise in a new way to elicit cartilage repair, which could be very helpful for people with osteoarthritis.
Bert Mandelbaum, MD, sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon at Kerlan-Jobe Institute and Co-Director of the Regenerative Orthobiologic Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, not involved in the current study, commented that: β[Millions of people] worldwide are negatively impacted by cartilage degeneration. This is a very interesting study revealing some potentially new and exciting mechanisms. Systematically there needs to be more follow up, translating this to human considerations. There is potential, but it requires a systematic path of different proof of concept studies and then lastly, physically translating it to human beings in order to prove its efficacy.β
