Non-Invasive Compression-Induced Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury and In Vivo Imaging of Protease Activity in Mice

Our lab uses mouse models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis to investigate early processes following joint injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament or ACL ruptures, and how these early events can lead to tissue degeneration and osteoarthritis progression. In particular, we're interested in learning how exercise or rest after an injury can affect long-term joint health. There are many animal models of osteoarthritis available, and all of them are useful for investigating certain research questions.

Some of the experimental challenges in this field are selecting the appropriate models of your study, determining what techniques to use to assess OA progression, and at what time point you will perform this analysis. This knee injury method is very quick and easy to perform. Using noninvasive compression-induced injury also allows us to study the joint response at early time points, and since there's no surgical procedure, we can use in vivo optical imaging to track proteus activity in their joint.

In the future, we plan to use different genetic strains of mice, some that are vulnerable to osteoarthritis, and some that are resistant to osteoarthritis to determine how certain aspects of the inflammatory response contribute to either joint healing or joint degeneration following injury.