Growth factor signalling in osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common diseases, affecting more than 10% of populations and thus creating immense socioeconomic burden. The pathological changes of OA involve the entire joint, which is composed of multiple types of tissues and cells, exemplified by cartilage degradation, subchondral bone thickening, osteophyte formation, synovium inflammation and hypertrophy, and ligament degeneration. As joint homeostasis requires a complex network of growth factors to regulate anabolic and catabolic events, the dysregulation of growth factor signalling would have negative impacts on structure and function of multiple joint tissues and eventually lead to the onset and progression of OA. In this review, we will discuss TGF-β, NGF, Hedgehog and Wnt, the four growth factors which have received extensive attention in the field of OA and clinical/translational interrogation about their application in OA therapies.

Keywords:

• Osteoarthritis
• TGF-β
• NGF
• Hedgehog
• Wnt

Acknowledgements

We apologize to colleagues whose work was not cited in this introductory review due to space limitations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was repoted by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants R01 AR054465 and R01 AR070222 to DC.