Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals differences between tibial chondrocytes in the weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing regions in rheumatoid osteoarthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune joint disease, whose pathogenesis is still unclear. Cartilage damage is one of the main manifestations of the disease. Chondrocytes are the main functional component of articular cartilage, which is relevant to disease progression. Mechanical loading affects the structure and function of articular cartilage and chondrocytes, but the effect of weight bearing on chondrocytes in rheumatoid arthritis is still unclear. In this study, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed on collected cartilage from the weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing regions of the tibial.