by Duke University – Futurity –
The ankle’s ability to regenerate cartilage uses the same mechanisms that enable some animals to grow new limbs, and it could be harnessed to repair cartilage in knees and hips hobbled by osteoarthritis.
Those findings in the journal Science Advances represent a major step forward in regenerative medicine, identifying the stress-induced regenerative capabilities of human ankle cartilage and providing a new potential framework for joint repair.
Osteoarthritis is a common disorder characterized by the breakdown of cartilage in the joints. It affects an estimated 7.6% of people worldwide and has no cure and few effective treatments.
“The novelty of our work lies in the innovative use of mass spectrometry to distinguish newly synthesized from older proteins, providing a way to measure the active versus inactive state of cartilage regeneration,” says Virginia Byers Kraus, professor in the departments of medicine, pathology, and orthopaedic surgery at Duke University School of Medicine.
