About this Research Topic
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an increase in life expectancy was driven mainly by improvements in sanitation, housing, and education, causing a steady decline in early and mid-life mortality. The rise of the elderly population presents several public health challenges, including an increased prevalence of degenerative joint and bone diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, intervertebral disc herniation, sarcopenia, etc.. Being ageing the main cause of degenerative joint and bone diseases, nine hallmarks of ageing have been identified: genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient-sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication.
In the past three decades, ageing research has deep into investigating the genetic pathways involved in the ageing process such as insulin-like signaling pathway, autophagy, Sirtuins and NAD+, circadian clocks, mitochondria and oxidative stress, senescence, chronic inflammation and proteostasis. The musculoskeletal system is a dynamic environment consisting of multiple tissues types, composed of several cells and cellular components, it is not easy to define or to measure ageing due to the complexities and heterogeneities of the ageing process. Moreover, it is also challenging to discontinue or attenuate the ageing process in the degenerative joint and bone diseases. There are still many open questions related to:
How to treat osteoarthritis without joint replacement,
How to relieve osteoporosis and avoid osteoporotic fractures,
How to relieve pain and disability caused by intervertebral disc herniation and sarcopenia,
Overall, the goal of this Research Topic is to consolidate our understanding on molecular and cellular mechanisms of ageing and how these contribute to degenerative joint and bone diseases, from basic etiological research to clinical translational therapy.
We do encourage investigators to discuss the ageing mechanisms and their impact on the degenerative joint and bone diseases. We welcome contributions focus on the following:
1. The impact of ageing on degenerative joint and bone diseases,
2. The biomarkers of ageing in the bone and joint diseases process,
3. Novel ageing-related mechanisms,
4. The different ageing pathways and processes in bone and joint, such as the progression of autophagy or senescence in osteoarthritis,
5. New therapeutic targets development in bone and joint diseases.
In the past three decades, ageing research has deep into investigating the genetic pathways involved in the ageing process such as insulin-like signaling pathway, autophagy, Sirtuins and NAD+, circadian clocks, mitochondria and oxidative stress, senescence, chronic inflammation and proteostasis. The musculoskeletal system is a dynamic environment consisting of multiple tissues types, composed of several cells and cellular components, it is not easy to define or to measure ageing due to the complexities and heterogeneities of the ageing process. Moreover, it is also challenging to discontinue or attenuate the ageing process in the degenerative joint and bone diseases. There are still many open questions related to:
How to treat osteoarthritis without joint replacement,
How to relieve osteoporosis and avoid osteoporotic fractures,
How to relieve pain and disability caused by intervertebral disc herniation and sarcopenia,
Overall, the goal of this Research Topic is to consolidate our understanding on molecular and cellular mechanisms of ageing and how these contribute to degenerative joint and bone diseases, from basic etiological research to clinical translational therapy.
We do encourage investigators to discuss the ageing mechanisms and their impact on the degenerative joint and bone diseases. We welcome contributions focus on the following:
1. The impact of ageing on degenerative joint and bone diseases,
2. The biomarkers of ageing in the bone and joint diseases process,
3. Novel ageing-related mechanisms,
4. The different ageing pathways and processes in bone and joint, such as the progression of autophagy or senescence in osteoarthritis,
5. New therapeutic targets development in bone and joint diseases.
Keywords: Ageing, Degenerative Joint, bone diseases, biomarkers, ageing pathways, autophagy, osteoarthritis, therapeutic targets
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
