Authors:

Amrita Rani Raparti

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About Paper:

Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that develops after a traumatic injury. Although we know that PTOA is primarily caused by traumatic joint injury, there are no cures, and the development and progression of PTOA are not well understood. Using murine models, we aimed to understand the onset and progression of PTOA. Murine models are great for simulating human diseases because their genetic make-up is similar to humans. Hence, we conducted an axial tibial compression of the right knee joint, which caused an anterior cruciate ligament rupture (ACLR) of skeletally mature mice. We will then compare various inflammatory genes of interest using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) of the injured joint over different time points, such as days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28. This will allow us to create a timeline of inflammation after ACLR and compare the abundance of pro-inflammatory (M1 macrophages) and anti-inflammatory markers (M2 macrophages). The presence of inflammatory genes: Itgam, Nos2, Arg1, and Adgre1, informs us of the type and presence of macrophage. The Itgam and Adgre1 markers indicate the presence of macrophages, while Nos2 and Arg1 indicate the presence of M1 and M2 macrophages, respectively. Running RT-qPCR, I anticipate M1 macrophage markers will be more abundant than M2 macrophage markers at later time points. Being able to determine the balance of M1 and M2 macrophages will help us establish a relative timeline of inflammation of the onset and progression of PTOA, which helps us understand PTOA better. Keywords: Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis; Inflammatory Markers; Gene Expression; Macrophage Polarization; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

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Co-authors:

Amrita Rani Raparti