New arthritic pannus-specific protein promotes fibroblast motility and polarization

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the development of hypercellular pannus tissue in the affected joints of patients. Pannus invasiveness and activation correlates with stronger tissue destruction and worse clinical prognosis. Using murine arthritis model, we recently discovered that synovial concentration of Collagen Triple Helix Repeat-containing 1 (CTHRC1) message and protein is directly correlated with arthritis severity. In carcinogenesis, overexpression of CTHRC1 is associated with enhanced metastatic potential of solid tumors and increased cell motility. Our goal is to investigate the mechanism of synovial cell motility and invasiveness and the role of non-canonical WNT signaling in pannus development.