Tissue Chips in Space: Human Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System for Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
Alan Grodzinsky,
Professor of Biological, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Director of the MIT Center for Biomedical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is caused by a traumatic impact
joint injury associated with an augmented inflammatory environment (such
as an ACL rupture). This results in loss of cartilage and impaired
joint function, severely impacting the quality of life of otherwise
healthy individuals, compounded by the fact that there are no
disease-modifying drugs available for OA/PTOA, only short acting pain
killers that do not halt disease progression. Astronauts may be at
heightened risk of altered musculoskeletal physiology, thus impacting
their Space mission. With an aim of PTOA disease management on Earth and
supporting astronaut health during long space missions, our overall
objective has been to develop a microphysiological system (MPS) to
simulate aspects of PTOA pathogenesis and progression in vitro, and to
use this MPS to develop therapeutic regimens incorporating appropriate
drugs and dynamic exercise loading to prevent disease progression and
stimulate pro-anabolic responses. Analyses to date from ISS experiments
show changes in human knee tissues indicative of the earliest events in
the initiation and progression of PTOA. The effects of human variability
are also under study. Use of such an MPS on earth and in LEO-based
platforms could enable accelerated disease modeling, providing unique
insights into disease progression and development of therapeutic
interventions. Effects of altered loading of joint cartilage in space
may affect the rate of cartilage breakdown leading to OA. Microgravity
may uniquely enable the study of joint-disuse versus exercise in
management of OA and PTOA.
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