£1.2m to research new treatments for Osteoarthritis

A team of academics from the University of Glasgow has been awarded a £1.2 million programme grant from Arthritis Research UK to bring together for the first time experts in bone, matrix, molecular and systems biology in a concerted effort to better understand osteoarthritis. The team, which will also draw in others from a consortium including researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh (Dr Robert van't Hof), Newcastle (Professor Drew Rowan), Strathclyde (Professor Robin Plevin) and West of Scotland (Professor John Lockhart) in the study of a new pathway previously discovered by the consortium that may drive disease in osteoarthritis. This could present an entirely new avenue for drug development. Osteoarthritis is a painful and disabling condition which occurs when the cartilage 'cushion' between the bones of the joint gradually erodes, leading to rubbing of bone on bone. The most frequently affected joints are knees, hips, spine and hands. It is known that irreversible cartilage breakdown in osteoarthritis is driven by potent enzymes but little is known about the complex events that switch on this destruction. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis with an estimated 8.5 million people affected in the UK alone.