Gene expression profiling in knee cartilage in a rat model of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disease that leads to joint failure with pain and disability. Gene regulations are implicated in driving an imbalance between the expression of catabolic and anabolic factors, leading eventually to osteoarthritic cartilage degeneration. The different stages of disease progression are described by the complex pattern of transcriptional regulations. The dynamics in pattern alterations were monitored in each individual animal during the time-course of OA progression.