GIST Prof. Jang-Soo Chun and his research team identify the causes of degenerative arthritis.

 

 

 

Nature Medicine, prestigious science journal, published “Pave the Way for Prevention and Treatment of Degenerative Arthritis,” in the May 24th issue. Writers and researches Prof. Jang-Soo Chun (third from the left) and Si-Young Yang, a doctorate student (first author, first from the left) led a research team at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), which pinpointed the root cause of degenerative arthritis that had remained unaddressed despite numerous studies and relentless efforts by a variety of researchers.

 

Jang-Soo Chun, a life science professor at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), succeeded in identifying what causes degenerative arthritis or osteoarthritis by manipulating various factors triggering the disease. The discovery was published recently in Nature Medicine (Nature Medicine, IF 27.553) as a major thesis.

 

The research team found that hypoxia-inducible factor-2a (HIF-2a) gene is the fundamental and decisive cause of degenerative arthritis by activating factors causing cartilage degeneration in cartilage cells.

 

The research shows that HIF-2a triggers degenerative arthritis by deteriorating cartilage tissues through activation of MMP and ADAMTS, the enzymes that directly evokes the degeneration of cartilage and causing protein inflammation.

 

 

<Photograph: Degenerative arthritis triggered in a genetically-engineered mouse with cartilage-specific over-expression of HIF-2α (left), degenerative arthritis suppressed in a genetically-engineered mouse lacking HIF-2α (right)>

 

The research team proved by experiments that artificial over-expression of HIF-2α in the cartilage of mice and rabbits led to severe cases of degenerative arthritis while lab animals that lacked HIF-2α did not develop the disease.

 

Degenerative arthritis is triggered by such congenital factors as aging and heredity or mechanical factors including breakdown of cartilage of joints and obesity. They activate biochemical factors in cartilage tissues, causing cartilage to weaken gradually and lead to unrecoverable loss of cartilage

 

Despite similar efforts by scientists and doctors worldwide to identify the cause and treatment of degenerative arthritis which affects 80 percent of all people over 65, there had been no success. Mr. Chun said, “This research proved that HIF-2α triggers degenerative arthritis by directly modulating the activities of various factors causing degeneration of cartilage.”

 

He also pointed out the significance of the findings, adding, “I expect the results to contribute greatly to the technical advancements and globalization of the Korean health care and medical industry by helping the country develop ways to prevent and treat the disease through suppression of HIF-2α.”