Musculoskeletal Ageing

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  microRNA:target interactions in tendon deterioration

• IRAS ID

  221122

• Contact name

  Peter Clegg

• Contact email

  p.d.clegg@liverpool.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Liverpool

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Tendons connect muscles to bones and are important in how we move, but frequently become injured and diseased, leading to significant pain, debility and deformity. Tendon injuries occur in sporting individuals, the active middle aged and the sedentary ageing population, accounting for between 30-50% of all musculoskeletal injuries and have an economic cost of about £7 billion per year in the UK. Disease of the posterior tibialis tendon in the ankle and foot is a significant clinical problem, with dysfunction and failure of this tendon predisposing to the development of flatfoot and arthritis. This results in a significant deterioration of function and quality of life, often necessitating salvage surgery to fuse and stiffen the bones of the hindfoot.
  Recently a new way in which cells alter their behaviour and potentially initiate disease has been discovered. This study will investigate this mechanism in cells within tendons to see if we can manipulate this response and potentially prevent these injuries from developing. Specifically, we will utilise tendon tissue removed from patients as part of flatfoot reconstruction or salvage surgery which would normally be disposed of as surgical waste, to explore and define how tendon cells alter their behaviour in disease, and how this altered behaviour is controlled by a class of recently discovered small genes known as microRNAs. No additional tissue will be removed from these patients during surgery. This project will use state-of-the-art sequencing and computer based techniques to identify the most promising microRNAs and determine how they may be altered in tendon injury. We will then confirm the role of the microRNAs identified as potentially important, by altering the levels of expression of these specific microRNAs in lab based cell culture experiments. This will identify specific targets which we can develop to potentially prevent or treat tendon injuries.

• REC name

  West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/WM/0099

• Date of REC Opinion

  1 Apr 2017

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion