Osteoarthritis (OA), a chronic degenerative joint disease, is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. The disease affects more than 25% of the population over the age of 45, resulting in stiffness, chronic pain, and reduced function of the joint. The prevalence of OA increases dramatically with age, and the proportion of elderly continues to increase in most populations. Moreover, obesity, a significant risk factor for OA, is also an increasingly frequent condition in most countries. Thus, the burden of OA is expected to surge, not only in the elderly, but even in the working-age population.
Today, the diagnosis of OA primarily relies on the presence of symptoms combined with the detection of degenerative changes in the joint visible on x-rays. However, by the time OA is visible in joint x-rays, the disease is at a late stage, when it is difficult to halt its progression. Traditionally the focus in research has been on the hyaline cartilage. However, the focus of this project is on an another feature of knee OA - the degeneration of the knee meniscus, which may come early. The meniscus is a key load-distributing tissue in the knee, whose degeneration is one of the most potent risk factors for future OA.
Here, we aim to understand the molecular and structural degeneration of the meniscus during OA in order to discover meniscus-specific biomarkers for early-diagnosis of OA, as well as to identify potential molecular targets for future disease-modifying treatments for OA.
In conclusion, the ERC project has significantly advanced the understanding of the building blocks of meniscus tissue and its organization in both healthy menisci and menisci in knees with OA. We have also discovered the complex interplay between proteins released into the joint fluid suggesting that future targets for interventions against OA should focus on much earlier stages of the disease than previously considered in order to be successful. We provide novel evidence that in the later stages of disease there is profound derangement of the complex interplay of at least several hundreds of proteins and its pathways.
