RNA sequencing of human meniscal fibrochondrocytes treated with 17beta-estradiol

Meniscal tears are the most prevalent intra-articular knee injury and pose significant risk in the development of knee osteoarthritis, a progressive disease that affects around 250 million people worldwide. Meniscus tissue, especially the avascular inner third, heals poorly and the only treatment option is surgery. Epidemiological data and the vital role of estrogen in tissue repair and homeostasis indicate that estrogen could be fundamental for knee joint health and could be useful for tissue regeneration. However, the specific cell response to estrogen and the differences in response of cells from different donors is unknown. In this study, RNA sequencing was used to characterize the mRNA transcriptome of human meniscal cells from male (47-year-old) and female (16-, 17-, and 47-year-old) donors treated with 17beta-estradiol. The goal is to provide data valuable to the design and implementation of estrogen replacement therapies for meniscal health and osteoarthritis reduction. 2 separate experiments, each with cells isolated from 2 different donors each split into 5 different treatment groups run in triplicate for a total of 30 samples per experiment