Tiered Mentoring Program Exploring the impact of lysosomal dysfunction on osteoarthritis progression in a mouse model Dr. Mohammad Yunus Ansari, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at NEOMED

Note: Students chosen for this project will be responsible for providing their own transportation to Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED).

Our lab is studying the effects of aging and trauma on osteoarthritis (OA), the most common degenerative joint disease affecting 32.5 million Americans. Aging and trauma are the most common risk factors associated with OA, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Lysosomes are the major catabolic organelles of cells and are essential for the clearance of autophagosomes. Loss of lysosomal function with age is directly associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. However, the role of lysosomes in chondrocytes—the only cell type in cartilage—under pathological conditions is not fully understood. We have previously shown that lysosomal dysfunction promotes OA pathogenesis (Ansari et al., Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2021 Jan;29(1):100-112), but the mechanism remains unexplored.

We are seeking motivated individuals to investigate the progression and severity of OA in a mouse model of lysosomal dysfunction. Upcoming students will have the opportunity to learn about the pathology of osteoarthritis, histology of mouse bone and cartilage, micro-computed tomography, immunofluorescence staining, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, and other basic laboratory techniques such as cell culture, RNA isolation, and real-time PCR. Students must be committed to research, keep records of their experiments, and present posters or give oral presentations at regional and national conferences. The attached image shows the impact of lysosomal dysfunction on aging-related OA.

We will be accepting two students for this project, one of whom will be focused on bone and one of whom will be focused on cartilage.