Immune and Repair Responses in Joint Tissues and Lymph Nodes after Knee Arthroplasty Surgery in Mice

The aim of this study was to better understand the resolution of inflammation and fibrosis in the soft tissue of the knee joint and the draining iliac lymph nodes (LNs) after surgery in a mouse tibial implant model. To do this, we collected the joint tissues from operated mice at 5 different timepoints (3, 7, 14, 21, and 35 days), plus joint tissue from the contralateral, non-operated limb at 35 days as a negative control. We also collected iliac LNs at days 7 and 14 post implantation surgery from the operated and contralateral sides; as controls we used LNs from non-operated mice. Transcriptomic analysis of the joint soft tissues revealed molecular pathways active during postoperative tissue repair. Transcriptomic analysis to understand molecular pathways active during postoperative tissue repair and in draining lymph nodes.

本研究旨在深入解析小鼠胫骨植入模型中，膝关节软组织及引流髂淋巴结（lymph nodes，以下简称LNs）术后炎症与纤维化的转归进程。为此，我们于术后5个时间点（3、7、14、21及35天）采集手术小鼠的关节组织，并以术后35天采集的对侧未手术肢体关节组织作为阴性对照。此外，我们在植入术后第7、14天，分别采集手术侧与对侧的髂淋巴结，并以未手术小鼠的淋巴结作为对照。本研究通过对关节软组织的转录组学分析，揭示了术后组织修复过程中活跃的分子通路；同时针对引流淋巴结开展的转录组学分析，旨在解析术后修复及引流淋巴结内的活跃分子通路。