Poster 1: Cell and Tissue Studies

9

Investigating Chondrogenic Mechanism Induced By Bmpr1A Mimetic Peptide Ck2.1

Venu Pandit, Kailey DeGeorge, Daniel Halloran, Xinqiao Jia, Anja Nohe

University of Delware

Osteoarthritis (OA), called ‘wear and tear arthritis’ has affected more than 50% of older adults over the age of 60. It involves the deterioration of articular cartilage in weight-bearing joints accompanied by inflammation and pain. A synthetic peptide CK2.1 restored articular cartilage in an OA mouse model. It is a BMP receptor (BMPR) 1A mimicking peptide. In our study, we intend to understand the underlying mechanism of the repair. Knee tissue sections of mice operated to induce artificial OA followed by intra-articular injections of CK2.1 conjugated with hydrogel particles were obtained. Tissue sections from mice injected with only hydrogel particles and otherwise operated similarly served as control. From immunofluorescence, localization of CK2.1 majorly in the proximity of superficial and middle zone chondrocytes of articular cartilage was seen. It co-localized with the expression of sox9 and collagen type IX. There was an increase in expression of sox9 and collagen type IX as compared to the control mice. Our results demonstrate that CK2.1 majorly accumulates in chondrocytes from the superficial and middle zone. An increase in the expression of markers for superficial and middle zone chondrocytes can be investigated further to study the molecular mechanism of cartilage repair activated by CK2.1.

Research Area: Cartilage