Insights into the Roles of Natural Killer Cells in Osteoarthritis

ABSTRACT

Osteoarthritis (OA) is now widely acknowledged as a low-grade inflammatory condition, in which the intrinsic immune system plays a significant role in its pathogenesis. While the involvement of macrophages and T cells in the development of OA has been extensively reviewed, recent research has provided mounting evidence supporting the crucial contribution of NK cells in both the initiation and advancement of OA. Accumulated evidence has emerged in recent years indicating that NK cells play a critical role in OA development and progression. This review will outline the ongoing understanding of the utility of NK cells in the etiology of OA, focusing on how NK cells interact with chondrocytes, synoviocytes, osteoclasts, and other immune cells to influence the course of OA disease.

KEYWORDS:

• Articular chondrocytes
• immune cells
• nature killer cells
• osteoarthritis
• synovitis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Startup Fund for scientific research, Fujian Medical University [Grant number:2020QH1244], the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province,China [Grant number:2021J05092] and the Foundation from 900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team [Grant number:2021JQ01].