2022 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 53-58
Osteoarthritis is a joint disease categorized by the degradation of articular cartilage, affecting more than 20% of individuals aged 65 and older. Murine in vivo models are often used to study osteoarthritis by destabilizing the medial meniscus. However, there are limited studies to study osteoarthritis in vitro, especially with healthy human chondrocytes. In this study, healthy human MSC-like cells, derived from excised polydactylous human finger cartilage, were investigated as a possible model for studying the pathology of osteoarthritis in humans. YUB625 cells were cultured into monolayers for three days, then loaded with 25 MPa of high hydrostatic pressure. PCR gene expression of chondrocytes showed that excessive stress led to a downregulation of chondrocyte marker expression; early osteoarthritis markers were upregulated. The results are consistent with chondrocyte-based cell murine models, suggesting that human cells derived from excised polydactylous human fingers may be used as an alternative to animal models to study the pathology of osteoarthritis in humans.
