Abstract: High-energy trauma to an articular joint delivers a mechanical overload to cartilage tissue and increases the risk of osteoarthritis as much as 10-fold. The mechanosensitive signaling pathways that mediate the damaging response of chondrocytes to mechanical overloads are not well understood. Filling these gaps in knowledge may provide new therapeutic targets following joint injury that prevent or delay the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. To this end, our lab identified Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) as a newly discovered mechanosensitive signaling molecule in chondrocytes’ response to injurious overload. As SIRT1 sits at the nexus of several pathways, our group’s investigation into its mechanical deactivation could provide a more complete picture of damaging mechanotransduction signaling in chondrocytes. Furthermore, we are leveraging our findings to develop new methods to treat cartilage injury and inhibit progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Novel treatment strategies are first tested in explants followed by a rabbit model of cartilage overload. Our early results indicated that treatment of the acute injury response prevents or delays the impact-induced markers of chondrocyte injury, the degradation of cartilage material properties, and the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Because cartilage is avascular and has limited intrinsic repair capabilities, there is an unmet clinical need for new methods to treat cartilage injury and inhibit progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis..

Biography: Dr. Diane Wagner obtained her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and worked as a mechanical engineer in industry before pursuing her graduate degree.  She obtained her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 2002, where her graduate research focused on constitutive modeling of orthopaedic tissues. In her postdoctoral research at Stanford University she investigated the effects of mechanics on adult mesenchymal stem cells. She held a faculty position at University of Notre Dame before transitioning to her current position as an Associate Professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at IUPUI.  Her current research efforts are in the areas of chondrocyte mechanobiology, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, and cartilage wear and tissue mechanics.

~ BME Host: Deva Chan ~

NOTE: Students registered for the seminar are expected to attend in-person.

Zoom Link:  https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95124789878?pwd=S0x0VW5Vd3VaMVc1LytlL0NJU1FYUT09