Osteoarthritis is a prevalent joint disease that stems from breakdown and loss of articular cartilage. This disease consequently affects millions of people worldwide. Although artificial joint replacements are currently the gold standard for osteoarthritis patients, they can cause problems, such as bone loss, pain if the implant becomes loose, and a loss of proprioception.

One way to sidestep these problems involves the use of stem cells to induce cartilage regeneration. Inevitably, the moral and ethical issues related to embryonic stem cell research come to mind. However, since the discovery that fat tissue is a viable source of stem cells, these issues can be avoided. Researchers such as Dr. John A. Szivek, a professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Arizona are developing ways to engineer articular cartilage using stem cells.

Alice Ferng, a senior at the University of Arizona double majoring in biochemistry & molecular biophysics and molecular & cellular biology, is one of the students working on this project in Dr. Szivek's laboratory. Alice is conducting a study that compares 3 types of stem cells (derived from human bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, and fat) to determine if stem cells isolated from fat are ideal for cartilage regeneration. If the results from this study show that stem cells from fat are viable, then osteoarthritis patients may soon be able to use tissues collected during liposuction as a source for stem cells to regrow their cartilage. The UBRP part of Alice's support comes from BIO5 and from grant from HHMI (52005889).

For more information about ongoing research projects at the orthopaedic research lab, please visit: http://www.bones.arizona.edu/research.html

Alice presented a poster of her work at the 19th annual UBRP Conference, January 26, 2008: https://ubrp.arizona.edu/conferences/08/abstract.cfm?id=608