EOS project
Project description
The risk of developing osteoarthritis (OA) is around 10% of those over the age of 60 years and rises to 90% of those over 80 years of age. Abnormal joint loading or traumatic events increase the risk of developing OA. Indeed, up to 50% of people suffering traumatic joint injuries will develop post-traumatic OA (PTOA). Currently, there are no clinical therapies to cure PTOA. It has traditionally been described as a cartilage disease, but research over the last decades has demonstrated the involvement of the underlying mineralized tissues in the initiation and progression of the disease.
In this project, four important universities (Université de Liège, KU Leuven, University of Melbourne, University of Sheffield) are cooperating to investigate fundamental biomechanical and mechanobiological aspects of subchondral bone, mineralized and hyaline cartilage, with particular emphasis on the bone-cartilage interface. By integrating in vivo imaging and mechanical testing, with several experimental techniques and simulations, the goals of the project are:
- To characterize in vivo spatio-temporal remodeling processes in subchondral bone as well as changes in cartilage morphology following the time course of PTOA in mice.
- To measure heterogeneous tissue-level properties of the complex region anchoring cartilage to bone and to correlate composition and structure with biomechanical function.
- To quantify load transfer mechanisms from cartilage to bone at multiple length scales, highlighting the role of the bone-cartilage junction.
- To describe the lacunocanalicular network (LCN) of subchondral bone and to unravel the hidden links between bone and cartilage cells through the LCN and bone-cartilage interface.
- To investigate the mechanobiology of subchondral bone and the osteochondral junction by simulating fluid flow in the LCN and across the bone-cartilage interface.
By investigating these biomechanical and mechanobiological aspects during PTOA, we will be able to answer urgent questions on the roles of subchondral bone and the osteochondral junction on cartilage degeneration. This is an essential step to developing novel therapeutics for OA.
