NCE

Our initial application established the goals of our project and the reasons for our study. Arthritis is the result of degeneration of cartilage (the tissue lining the joints) and leads to pain and limitation of function. Arthritis and other rheumatic diseases are among the most common of all health conditions and are the number one cause of disability in the United States. The annual economic impact of arthritis in the U.S. is estimated at over $120 billion, representing more than 2% of the gross domestic product. The prevalence of arthritic conditions is also expected to increase as the population increases and ages in the coming decades. Current treatment options for osteoarthritis are limited to pain reduction and joint replacement surgery.

Stem cells have tremendous potential for treating disease and replacing or regenerating the diseased tissue. In this project our objective is to use cells derived from stems cells to treat arthritis. We have completed our experiments as per our proposed timeline and have met milestones outlined in our grant submission.

We have established conditions for converting stem cells into cartilage tissue cells that can repair bone and cartilage defects in laboratory models. We have identified several cell lines with the highest potential for tissue repair. We optimized culture conditions to generate the highest quality of tissue. In our initial experiments we found no evidence of cell rejection response in vivo. We have testing efficacy of the most promising cell lines in regenerating healthy repair tissue in cartilage defects and have selected a preclinical candidate.

The next step is to plan safety and efficacy studies for the preclinical phase, identify collaborators with the facilities to obtain, process, and provide cell-based therapies, and identify clinical collaborators in anticipation of clinical trials. If necessary we will also identify commercialization partners.

We also anticipate that stem cells implanted in arthritic cartilage will treat the arthritis in addition to producing tissue to heal the defect in the cartilage. An approach that heals cartilage defects as well as treats the underlying arthritis would be very valuable. If our research is successful, this could lead to first treatment of osteoarthritis that alters the progression of the disease. This treatment would have a huge impact on the large numbers of patients who suffer from arthritis as well as in reducing the significant economic burden created by arthritis.