Responding to ACL Injury and its Treatments: Comparative Gene Expression between Articular Cartilage and Synovium

The current study compared the transcriptomes of knee joint articular cartilage and synovium in a large animal model one year following posttraumatic osteoarthritis induction and multiple surgical treatment modalities. Overall design: Thirty-six Yucatan minipigs underwent transection of the anterior cruciate ligament. Subjects were randomized to no further intervention, ligament reconstruction, or ligament repair augmented with an extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold, followed by RNA-sequencing of the articular cartilage and synovium at 52 weeks after harvest. Twelve intact contralateral knees served as controls.