Synovial Dysregulation in Ankle Osteoarthritis: Molecular Insights and Pathogenetic Pathways [RNA-Seq 1]

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the ankle is a debilitating condition that impacts almost 20% of adults in the United States. Little is known about the tissue, cellular and molecular basis of the disease, nor is the contribution of the synovium to the disease process understood. Here, we aimed to examine the gene expression profile of the synovium in ankle OA to uncover unique biological pathways altered in this condition. Overall design: Patients undergoing joint replacement surgery of the ankle OA (n=26) and patients suffering an ankle fracture with either no evidence of OA or early-stage disease (n=8) were recruited, and provided synovial biopsies. Bulk RNA sequencing was performed on these tissues to identify differentially expressed genes.