Identification of immune mediators contributing to osteoarthritis pain

Osteoarthritis (OA) pain is difficult to treat, and it is thought to be caused by changes in the sensory nervous system resulting from the (ongoing) generation of peripheral stimuli by inflammatory reactions and tissue damage in the joint and/or neuro-immune interaction (e.g. in the dorsal root ganglion). Based on the recent discovery that during persistent osteoarthritis pain macrophages can be found in the dorsal root ganglia and differentiate into M1 macrophages and that complement factor are increased in the synovial tissue the major goals of this projects are:

1. Identification of the chemoattractant and immune mediators that attract macrophages to the DRG and program them into M1 macrophages
2. Determine which complement factors are increased and how they contribute to the development of OA pain.

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Christian Marín Gil