Cartilage is a specialized connective tissue mainly composed of a small amount of chondrocytes embedded in a well-developed matrix including collagen type 2, hyaluronan and aggrecan. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease characterized by the loss of articular cartilage. This results from an imbalance between synthesis and degradation of the cartilage specific extra-cellular matrix (ECM).
Cytokines produced by the synovium and chondrocytes, especially IL-1β and TNF-α are involved in cartilage degradation and inhibition of ECM synthesis. At the cellular level, IL-1β activates matrix-degrading enzymes and down-regulates expression of matrix components such as collagen type 2 and aggrecan.
Atlantic Bone Screen can screen the effect of your compounds on an in-vitro hypertrophic chondrocytes model induced by treatment with IL-1β. The modification of expression of type II collagen, aggrecan and MMP-13 is investigated using qPCR analysis.
