Publications

Abstract Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common arthritic disease in the world, leading to debilitating pain and destruction of joint tissues. While pain is the hallmark symptom of osteoarthritis, clear associations between pain and disease processes involved in joint deterioration are lacking. OA pain is multifactorial and may arise from multiple distinct or concurrent mechanisms, […]

Abstract Myofibroblasts are the key effector cells responsible for excessive extracellular matrix deposition in multiple fibrotic conditions, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The PI3K/Akt/mTOR axis has been implicated in fibrosis, with pan-PI3K/mTOR inhibition currently under clinical evaluation in IPF. Here we demonstrate that rapamycin-insensitive mTORC1 signaling via 4E-BP1 is a critical pathway for TGF-β stimulated […]

Abstract Vastatin, a fragment derived from type VIII collagen, is one of the least studied collagen-derived matrikines. Vastatin can be detected in serum but little is known regarding the relevance of serum vastatin in colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, serum vastatin was measured (ELISA) in 67 healthy controls and 48 CRC patients prior to […]

Abstract BACKGROUND Biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity typically measure inflammation or autoimmunity (e.g. CRP, RF). C1M and C3M, metabolites of type I and III collagen, are markers reflecting tissue metabolism. These markers have been documented to provide additional prognostic and predictive value compared to commonly used biomarkers. We investigated the relationship of high […]

Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIMS Although combined antiretroviral treatment (cART) has improved overall survival of HIV infected patients, liver fibrosis and liver related-mortality still constitute major challenges in HIV positive patients. Collagen accumulates in the liver during fibrogenesis. Recent studies showed that circulating levels of extracellular matrix (ECM) fragments might reflect degree of portal hypertension and […]

Abstract There is an increasing demand for accurate endotyping of patients according to their pathogenesis to allow more targeted treatment. We explore a combination of blood-based joint tissue metabolites (neoepitopes) to enable patient clustering through distinct disease profiles. We analysed data from two RA studies (LITHE (N = 574, follow-up 24 and 52 weeks), OSKIRA-1 […]

Abstract Blood levels of Glial Fibrillary Acidic protein (GFAP) reflect processes associated with different types of CNS injury. Evidence suggests that GFAP is cleaved by caspases during CNS injury, hence positioning GFAP fragments as potential biomarkers of injury-associated processes. We set out to develop an assay detecting the neo-epitope generated by caspase-6 cleavage of GFAP […]

Abstract Recent research in the field of osteoarthritis (OA) has focused on understanding the underlying molecular and clinical phenotypes of the disease. This narrative review article focuses on recent advances in our understanding of the phenotypes of OA and proposes that the disease represents a diversity of clinical phenotypes that are underpinned by a number […]

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) derived extracellular matrix (ECM) biomarkers in non-radiographic (nr)-axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and radiographic (r)-axSpA after exercise intervention. Forty-six axSpA patients with stable disease and treatment underwent 24 weeks long exercise intervention. The clinical and laboratory assessments were performed at baseline […]

Abstract Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the most common cause of death in industrialized countries, and myocardial infarction (MI) is a major CVD with significant morbidity and mortality. Following MI, the left ventricle (LV) undergoes a wound healing response to ischemia that results in extracellular matrix (ECM) scar formation to replace necrotic myocytes. While ECM accumulation […]