Ohio University
Traditionally, osteoarthritis (OA) is considered as a wear and tear disease that only occurs in cartilage tissue in older adults. Recent studies have proven that OA is a whole-joint disease that affects multiple joint tissues and can also happen in young people. One of the ways risk factors such as aging, obesity, and injury contribute to OA development is through disrupting cellular metabolism in joint cells. Research in the Zhu lab is focused on studying how different risk factors disrupt cellular metabolism in joint cells. Recent data from the Zhu lab suggests that Sirt5 and its regulation of protein post-translational malonylation (MaK) play an important role in regulating chondrocyte cellular metabolism. Importantly, this regulatory pathway dynamically changes under injury, aging, and obesity conditions. We want to understand how Sirt5-malonylation regulates chondrocyte cellular metabolism and contributes to OA.