THE ROLE OF CHONDROCYTE SENESCENCE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF OSTEOARTHRITIS AND IN LIMITING CARTILAGE REPAIR

Abstract excerpt

BACKGROUND: With increasing age, the prevalence of osteoarthritis increases and the efficacy of articular cartilage repair decreases. As chondrocytes age, they synthesize smaller, less uniform aggrecan molecules and less functional link proteins, their mitotic and synthetic activity decline, and their responsiveness to anabolic mechanical stimuli and growth factors decreases. These observations led us to...