Projects

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Optimization of treatment methods for cartilage regeneration in the tibial joint: understanding the role of local cartilage loading. KU Leuven

Ilse Jonkers
Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group, BioMechanics (BMe), Research Group for Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation
The ability to regenerate native joint cartilage is an important clinical challenge. Despite recent advances in cartilage repair procedures and the availability of autologous chondrocyte implantations (ACI), the challenge remains to generate repair tissue with characteristics comparable to the surrounding tissue that integrates well with the cartilage and subchondral bone(CSB) tissue. Aversive mechanical stimuli are suggested to be primary ...

Engineering cartilage intermediates for skeletal repair by cell reprogramming, targeting cell metabolism and advanced manufacturing. KU Leuven

Geert Carmeliet
Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, Animal and Human Health Engineering (A2H), Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center
The treatment of large skeletal defects, including long bone and osteochondral joint surface defects, remains a major challenge in the clinics. Key problems in using cell-based constructs in regenerative medicine are the poor cell survival, the unpredictable cell fate and the impaired cell function. Inspired by developmental biology and based on principles of engineering, we hypothesize that combining biological and engineering tools will result ...

The role of mechanical loading in cartilage homeostasis, degeneration and repair: a multi-scale approach. KU Leuven

Ilse Jonkers
Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group, BioMechanics (BMe)
Therapies to heal cartilage lesions and prevent evolution towards osteoarthritis, the most common chronic joint disease, are urgently needed. This project aims to causally relate cartilage tissue responses to mechanical loading using a novel multi-scale approach that integrates molecular biology with biomechanical multiscale modeling. The central hypothesis states that mechanical loading can be associated with specific anabolic and catabolic ...

A model based rehabilitation protocol after cartilage lesions based on mechanical loading of the knee joint. KU Leuven

Ilse Jonkers
Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group, BioMechanics (BMe)

Articular cartilage defects of the knee joint are commonly caused by trauma during sports activities. Cartilage has low self-repair and regenerative capabilities, partially due to its avascular nature, the low intrinsic density of chondrocytes, and the low turnover of the extracellular matrix. If left untreated, cartilage injuries are a major risk factor for further cartilage degeneration and eventually osteoarthritis. Therefore, the ability ...

How does multi-axial loading affect the biosynthetic response and mechanical quality of cartilage in early osteo-arthritis? KU Leuven

Ilse Jonkers
Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group, Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center, Department of Movement Sciences

Articular cartilage covers the end of the long bones in joints and is constantly susceptible to mechanical stresses during joint loading. These forces have a direct effect on the chondrocyte within the cartilage tissue. Due to cell-matrix interactions, chondrocytes are able to sense these effects and alter their biosynthetic activity in order to maintain their extracellular matrix (ECM) components, mainly including collagen and proteoglycans, ...

Unraveling Wnt signaling in cartilage to deal with osteoarthritis KU Leuven

Silvia Monteagudo
Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder worldwide, for which no cure exists. Increasing evidence suggests that the Wnt pathway plays a critical role in this disease and may be an effective target for therapy. However, modulation of this cascade to safeguard cartilage health remains a challenge, as we do not fully understand how it is regulated. My research program aims to dissect molecular mechanisms that control the Wnt pathway in ...

Unraveling Wnt Signaling in the Cartilage to Deal with Osteoarthritis. KU Leuven

Silvia Monteagudo
Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder worldwide, for which no cure exists. Increasing evidence suggests that the Wnt pathway plays a critical role in this disease and may be an effective target for therapy. However, modulation of this cascade to safeguard cartilage health remains a challenge, as we fail to fully understand how it is regulated. My research program aims to dissect molecular mechanisms that control the Wnt pathway in ...

The role of Smoc2 in cartilage and bone differentiation and homeostasis KU Leuven

Rik Lories
Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center

The project entitled ‘A systems biology approach of Wnt signaling in cartilage’ focuses on osteoarthritis or briefly OA, which is a progressive and degenerative disorder affecting around 40% of people over 70 years. Due to an aging population, this number will only increase together with the costs related to the disease. Until now, no cure or disease modifying drugs for OA are available. Previous research has demonstrated that the key process ...

Sabbatical Ilse Jonkers: Multi-scale insights in the role of mechanical loading in cartilage homeostasis, repair and disease as basis for regenerative rehabilitation and excercise regimes in osteoarthritis KU Leuven

Ilse Jonkers
Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group

I wish to strengthen my research line in multi-scale cartilage mechanobiology by deepening existing international collaborations or starting up new collaborations and embedding them further within my research line on cartilage mechanobiology in Leuven – in preparation for an ERC advanced grant (submission 2024). To this end, I would like to propose a 3-part approach: - Stay in AO Foundation (Davos, Switzerland) with which I already cooperate. ...

Adaptive biomaterials constructed from fully dynamic hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering Hasselt University

Materials Chemistry, Maastricht University
There is a critical demand for a modular synthetic system capable of dictating cellular fate in order to translate hydrogels toward therapeutic applications. This project aims to investigate the role of dynamic networks on the cellular response, leading to the development of an injectable but tough material capable of functioning as cell scaffold for cartilage regeneration. To achieve this, the first objective is to establish a platform based on ...