Elucidation of a Novel Mechanism for Controlling Aging of Temporomandibular Joint Cartilage

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K17137
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 57050:Prosthodontics-related
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Kuwahara Miho 岡山大学, 医歯薬学域, 助教 (30868287)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 関節軟骨

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Immunostaining of CCN3 in the femoral head samples collected from healthy adults and patients with osteoarthritis (OA) revealed an accumulation of positive cells in the superficial layer of chondrocytes and highly stained areas in the matrix of the cartilage surface in the OA group. Moreover, gene analysis of isolated chondrocytes showed a significant increase in CCN3 mRNA expression in the OA group compared to the healthy group, along with induction of expression of genes such as p16, ADAMTS4, and Aggrecan mRNA. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between the histological degeneration degree obtained by the Mankin score of the same samples and the expression level of CCN3 mRNA.

Free Research Field

補綴歯科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

CCN3の発現と軟骨組織変性の程度に相関があること、またトランスジェニックマウスの解析により軟骨基質分解を亢進することが示された。今回の研究成果は変形性関節症発症の病態解明の一助になると考えられる。超高齢社会において、高齢者に多く発症する同疾患の予防・治療法確立の足掛かりとしての意義は大きい。