Mark Markel

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Blood-derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Cartilage Repair

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the leading health problems in the United States. According to the data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, OA affects nearly 21% of adults in the United States aged 35 years and older. The National Arthritis Data Workshop has estimated that 27 million adults in the U.S. experience clinical OA. Surgical procedures such as joint arthroplasty using metallic and plastic implants can help reduce pain and regain the anatomic structure and function of joints. However, the risk of infection and the challenge of compromised biocompatibility resulting from polyethylene wear sometimes lead to early failure of implants, which doesn't make joint arthroplasty a necessarily viable option for young or middle-aged patients who may need multiple surgeries over their lifetime to revise or replace failed implants. Emerging stem cell-based therapies providing a biological solution for the treatment of OA are considered advantageous compared to existing pharmacological or surgical approaches. We propose to utilize cell reprogramming technology to produce patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and then use the iPSCs to generate functional cartilage in vitro for cartilage repair in a sheep model. This proof-of-concept study will test the feasibility of patient-specific stem cells fr the production of autologous cartilage implants for OA treatment, as validation of personalized medicine for clinical applications.