Osteoarthritis year in review 2024: Biology

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) research is a fast-growing and extremely wide field, in which a substantial increase in knowledge has been achieved over the last year. It covers many different topics, however, a PubMed search using the terms 'osteoarthritis' and 'biology' resulted in only a limited number of studies that were published between April 2023 and April 2024. In order to identify OA-relevant studies that focus on mechanistic studies of biological processes at the tissue, cellular, and molecular level, the following keywords were included as search terms: tissue interactions, single cell sequencing, transcriptomics, extracellular matrix, signaling, ion channels, and pain. The final selection of publications presented in this 'year in review' was influenced by the personal preferences of the authors, and eventually three larger key themes emerged: 1) Joint tissue interactions covering meniscus, subchondral bone, fat tissue, synovium, and synovial fluid. 2) Degeneration of the cartilage extracellular matrix and generation of bioactive fragments. 3) Receptors, ion channels, signaling pathways, and cellular metabolism. Many of the studies summarized here identified novel potential targets for OA treatment, and promising results were already obtained addressing these targets in different animal models. It will be exciting to see which findings can be translated into future clinical studies and eventually lead to novel treatment approaches for human OA.

Keywords: Extracellular matrix; Ion channels; Pain; Signaling; Single-cell sequencing; Tissue interactions.