Microarray analysis of cartilage: comparison between damaged and non-weight-bearing healthy cartilage.

Aim: A limited healing response to focal cartilage lesions is frequently encountered in the clinical cartilage pathology. This study compares the gene expression patterns of damaged and undamaged regions of cartilage obtained from the same patient with focal cartilage lesions. The aim of this study is to provide new genes and proteins, which may be a potential future target of research.

Methods: During the autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) surgery, cartilage tissues (healthy non-weight bearing and Damaged-lesion side) were obtained from 10 patients with knee focal cartilage lesions. The degeneration status of the cartilage was characterized according to ICRS criteria. Whole genome microarray gene expression profiling was performed and some of the differentially regulated genes were validated with RT-PCR.

Results: Damaged and undamaged non-weight bearing cartilage showed distinct gene expression profiles. Genes involved in cell signaling, matrix degradation, hypoxia, and the inflammatory response showed significant up- or down-regulation. In the focal lesions, expression of genes such as HIF1α, TIMP-2, EID1, EID2, NCOA3, NBR1, SP100, and HSP90AA1 was significantly higher compared to healthy non-weight bearing cartilage from the same joint, whereas TIMP-4 was lower.

Conclusion: The genes examined in this study differ distinctly between focal cartilage (ICRS 3-4) lesions and undamaged sites of the same joint. We believe that the data set forth in this study may be used for clinical purposes and be a guide in the development of new biological approaches for therapy.