Oxidative Stress and Cellular Senescence in the Progression of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a common age-related degenerative joint condition in which cartilage and bone are lost, though in the earlier stages of the condition, changes in cartilage are more subtle and complicated in their effects. While not traditionally seen as an inflammatory condition, as there is no evident, visible joint inflammation as occurs in other forms of arthritis, there is nonetheless a strong case for considering osteoarthritis to be driven by localized inflammation. Recently, the increased number of senescent cells in aged joint tissue has been shown to contribute directly to the development of osteoarthritis. Indeed, osteoarthritis will be near the top of the list of conditions that Unity Biotechnology plans to treat with senolytic drugs capable of selectively destroy senescent cells. These unwanted cells generate inflammation through the signaling molecules they create, and thus a role in osteoarthritis makes a lot of sense in hindsight. Today's open access paper on the relationship between age and osteoarthritis focuses more on oxidative stress than on inflammation, however. Oxidative stress is the excessive generation of oxidative molecules by cells, which can cause damage or even cell death, but perhaps just as importantly it can alter cellular behavior in quite sweeping ways. Oxidative stress and inflammation often go hand in hand, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that one is capable of causing the other, with the arrow of causation pointing in ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs