Loeser Lab Research Overview

Dr. Loeser’s lab uses a combination of in vitro experiments using human joint tissue cells and in vivo experiments in rodent models to study cell signaling pathways that regulate anabolic and catabolic activity responsible for joint tissue remodeling and destruction. The lab is particularly interested in determining how reactive oxygen species regulate chondrocyte signaling downstream of integrins, cytokines and growth factors through the oxidation of specific cysteine residues in kinases and phosphatases as well as other intracellular proteins. The lab is studying how oxidative stress that occurs with aging and joint injury can alter the activity of these signaling pathways and contribute to cell senescence. The lab is also examining crosstalk between joint tissue cells mediated by a fragment of the matrix protein fibronectin that acts as a matrikine. This matrikine is being used to stimulate an osteoarthritis (OA) cell phenotype for genomic studies designed to discover OA causal genes and for high throughput drug screening to discover OA disease modifying drugs.