Development of hydrogels to support chondrocyte responsiveness to mechanical loading

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent and disabling condition in which the normal joint function is impaired. It is a multi-factorial disease that primarily affects the articular cartilage and in which mechanical factors have been reported to be key-factors. Within an interdisciplinary project involving physicists, rheumatologists, movement scientists, biomedical engineers, we are laying the fundaments of a new approach towards treatment of osteoarthritis by developing an innovative multi-scale monitoring platform that will support the development of targeted exercise efforts to rehabilitate early OA cartilage. This involves subjecting cartilage samples to dedicated mechanical loading protocols while being embedded in an appropriate hydrogel matrix in a bioreactor. This hydrogel needs to be adequately tuned to support cell homeostasis and should have tuneable viscoelastic properties in order to regenerate the appropriate mechanical environment allowing mechanotransduction and consequent matrix production by the chondrocyte.