Project description:The meniscus consists of two zones red-red (outer) and white-white (inner). We used single cell RNA-seq to analyze the differences in the composition of cell types between zones. We also compared the medial and lateral meniscus.
Project description:Meniscus injuries are common and while surgical strategies have improved, there is a need for alternative therapeutics to improve long-term outcomes and prevent post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Current research efforts in regenerative therapies and tissue engineering are hindered by a lack of understanding of meniscus cell biology and a poorly defined meniscus cell phenotype. This study utilized bulk RNA-sequencing to identify unique and overlapping transcriptomic profiles in cartilage, inner and outer zone meniscus tissue, and passaged inner and outer zone meniscus cells. The greatest transcriptomic differences were identified when comparing meniscus tissue to monolayer cultured cells (> 4,600 differentially expressed genes (DEGs)) and meniscus tissue to cartilage (> 3,100 DEGs). While zonal differences exist within the meniscus tissue (205 DEGs between inner and outer zone meniscus tissue), meniscus resident cells are more similar to each other than to either cartilage or monolayer meniscus cells. Additionally, we identified and validated LUM and PRRX1 as potential markers for meniscus tissue and ACTA2, FSTL1, SFRP2, and TAGLN as novel markers for meniscus cell dedifferentiation. Our data contribute significantly to the current characterization of meniscus cells and provide an important foundation for future work in meniscus cell biology, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering.
Project description:Discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is more prone to injury than a normally shaped meniscus. Our previous study successfully identified the different cell types and their corresponding marker genes in meniscus tissues, but there was no study comparing the gene expression and cell heterogenicity of discoid meniscus with normal meniscus.
Project description:Analysis of gene expression in E16 mouse meniscus, articular cartilage, and cruciate ligaments Limbs were dissected from E16 CD-1 mice. Samples were frozen in OCT and cryosectioned. Meniscus, articular carilage, and cruciate ligament were isolated using laser capture microdissection. Total RNA was isolated from these tissues, amplified, and gene expression was analyzed using microarrays. Three biological replicates were analyzed for each tissue type. Total RNA extracted from E16 mouse meniscus, articular cartilage, and cruciate ligaments
Project description:Meniscus injuries are highly prevalent and are linked to the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). The inflammatory cytokine IL-1 is elevated in synovial fluid following knee injuries, causes degradation of meniscus tissue, and inhibits meniscus repair. Dynamic mechanical compression of meniscus tissue has been shown to improve integrative repair in the presence of IL-1; however, there remains a dearth of knowledge on global effects of loading on meniscus cell phenotype and transcriptomic profiles. In this study, we performed mRNA-Seq on meniscus tissue explants from inner and outer zone regions of porcine menisci subjected to dynamic compression in the presence and absence of IL-1 to identify cellular responses to mechanical load, identify differences in response to load based on zonal characteristics, and identify IL-1 induced inflammatory responses modulated by load.
Project description:Meniscus degeneration is one of the manifestations of knee osteoarthritis, but its specific molecular mechanism is still not very clear. We used Wuzhishan pig's anterior cruciate ligament resection to prepare meniscus degeneration models, and applied gene chip technology to detect the expression of differential genes in the degenerated meniscus tissue. The study detected a total of 893 differentially expressed genes, mainly related to hormones, apoptosis, inflammation and other mechanisms, and analyzed that TRP channels may play a key role. All in all, we have established a reliable animal model of meniscus degeneration and found that meniscus degeneration involves several possible molecular mechanisms, which provide molecular targets for future treatment of the disease.
Project description:We identified seven clusters in healthy human meniscus, including five empirically-defined populations and two novel populations. Pseudotime analysis showed EC and FCP existed at the pseudospace trajectory start. MCAM (CD146) was highly expressed in two clusters. CD146+ meniscus cells differentiated into osteoblasts and adipocytes and formed colonies. We identified changes in the proportions of degenerated meniscus cell clusters and found a cluster specific to degenerative meniscus with progenitor cell characteristics. The reconstruction of four progenitor cell clusters indicated that FCP differentiation into DegP was an aberrant process. Interleukin-1β stimulation in healthy human meniscus cells decreased CD146+ cells and increased CD318+ cells, while TGFβ1 attenuated the increase in CD318+ cells in degenerated meniscus cells.