Grant: Operating Grant

Knee pain when walking, kneeling, and climbing stairs can arise from the breakdown of cartilage, a thin elastic tissue covering the ends of the knee bones. To restore a smooth surface and a painless gliding motion, the damaged area is often treated by cartilage repair surgery. One current drawback is that some patients develop a swollen inflamed knee after the surgery, that if left unchecked, can work against cartilage repair and even lead to more tissue breakdown in other tissues in the knee. Therefore, new treatments are needed that surgeons can use to calm inflammation after surgery, without disabling the white blood cells needed to keep the knee clear of infection. This research program aims to improve our understanding of how knee inflammation can be guided to help cartilage repair. We will develop new materials that can be injected in the knee, and draw healthy white blood cells into the joint fluid. The materials will be fine-tuned to stimulate cells in the synovial membrane, a tissue that covers all joint surfaces except the cartilage, into releasing factors that stop tissue destruction and help rebuild new cartilage. Our research is based on a long history of findings from our laboratory using chitosan, a sugar polymer, to promote bone fracture and cartilage repair. This program, if successful, could lead to a new product that can be injected in the knee after surgery to specifically tame the inflammatory response and improve the long-term cartilage repair outcome and knee performance.