When it comes to arthritic bone spurs, stem cells hurt instead of heal

Osteocyte
Following ligament injury, a bone spur forms at the edge of the damaged mouse knee joint (middle right). This pathological bone spur (pink) is made by the same type of stem cells (green) that normally participate in the repair of broken bones. (Image by Stephanie Kuwahara/USC Stem Cell)
The same stem cells that heal broken bones can also generate arthritic bone spurs called osteophytes, according to a new study in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.

“Although these stem and progenitor cells promote healthy bone repair in other contexts, they are inappropriately activated to cause a pathological bony protuberance in the context of arthritis,” said Gage Crump, a professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at USC. Crump is the paper’s co-corresponding author, along with Cosimo de Bari from the University of Aberdeen in the UK.

To read more, visit https://stemcell.keck.usc.edu/when-it-comes-to-arthritic-bone-spurs-stem-cells-hurt-instead-of-heal.