Osteoarthritis (OA) affects millions of people and is the most common cause of pain and physical disability in the world today, with huge social and economic costs. In Europe, over 40 million people are affected by OA. It is estimated that 130 million Europeans will suffer from OA by 2050. An estimated 52.5 million of people in the US suffer from OA and the total costs exceed $100 billion per year. Although age is a major risk factor for OA, joint injury also contributes to acute and long-term cartilage degradation in younger population.
Presently, there is no treatment that can reverse or halt OA, other than pain-relief until joint replacement becomes necessary. Abnormal mechanical loading plays an important role in the progression of cartilage degeneration after injury. Since injured cartilage has limited intrinsic repair capacity, a thorough understanding of mechanobiological mechanisms at cellular and tissue levels in normal and pathological conditions is essential for developing effective treatments to restore function and prevent disease progression.
INpaCT focuses on elucidating key players involved in the progression of cartilage damage following injury using sophisticated microscopic, spectroscopic and molecular biology techniques combined with computational modelling and optimization algorithms. This will provide novel insights into disease mechanisms and ultimately improved repair strategies. The overall goal of INpaCT is to explore the underlying mechanisms at cellular and tissue level in a controlled in vitro model of osteoarthritis progression. We aim to determine poro-viscoelastic properties of healthy/damaged cells and their pericellular matrix in an intro model of osteoarthritis progression using a novel approach coupling Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements, computational modelling and optimization algorithms. In addition, changes in cartilage structure, composition and metabolism in an in vitro model of osteoarthritis progression will be investigated.
