Sheffield scientists awarded major grant for arthritis research
Sheffield scientists have been awarded a grant of £108,100 from medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign, for their work in tracking down the causes of the crippling condition of osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition of the joints, which affects more than one million people in the UK, leading to pain and stiffness. It occurs when the smooth surface on the ends of the bones becomes damaged, becoming thinner and roughened.
Now a team led by Dr David Buttle, a senior lecturer in the department of human metabolism and clinical biochemistry at the University of Sheffield's medical school, is being funded to spend the next three years investigating the process of degeneration.
He will examine two of the enzymes that are responsible for breaking down a substance called aggrecan, an important component of cartilage, which once broken down leads to arthritis.
"The enzymes responsible for this process have defied identification for 40 years, but the first two have now been discovered and are available for study," explained Dr Buttle. "We will find out exactly what these enzymes can do to cartilage, and how to inhibit them, and what controls the levels of these enzymes in joint tissues.
"We also suspect that there are still more of these enzymes to be found and we will try to identify these and extend our studies to include them. This will allow us to decide which of these enzymes need to be controlled in order to protect cartilage from destruction."
Sheffield is a leading centre for arthritis research, and currently receives more than £2m in grants from the ARC, whose headquarters are in Chesterfield.
