STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED A POTENTIAL NEW TREATMENT FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

Edited by, SNEHA MAVIS

 Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating joint condition that affects millions of people around the world. OA is a condition that causes cartilage loss over time and is most common in the elderly. Joint replacement and symptom treatment are now the only options.

A team led by researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University discovered a small regulatory RNA molecule known as a microRNA (miRNA or miR) that plays a role in the balance between cartilage synthesis and degeneration. They examined the miR-455 parent molecule, which is remarkable in that it creates two functional miRNA strands, 5p and 3p.

Individual miRNAs bind to a set of genes in gene message that contain their specific binding sequence. As a result, they can regulate a large number of genes at the same time. When miRNA binds to gene message, it can prevent it from being translated into protein or cause it to be completely damaged.

The researchers examined miR-455 levels in human cartilage samples and discovered that those with OA had considerably lower levels of this miRNA. They next created miR-455 knockout mice and confirmed OA-like cartilage degradation in the knee joints in six-month-old mice. HIF-2 is a protein that is involved in cartilage degradation. As a result, the researchers injected synthetic versions of miR-455-3p and 5p into OA-model mice knee joints and discovered that they reduced cartilage Degradation. HIF-2 expression was also significantly reduced after miR-455 therapy.