ORTHOPAEDIC
INSTITUTE RESEARCH

Rheumatology

Members of the Research Team:
Dr Oksana Kehoe (Lead) and PhD students Rebecca Davies, Anais Makos and Henry Barrett

Clinical Support:
Dr Roshan Amarasena (Lead), Dr Ayman Askari, Dr Julia Flint and Dr Rameez Arif.

Our team has continued to be active this year carrying out basic science work into understanding mechanisms of inflammatory arthritis diagnosis, progression and possible treatments including mesenchymal stem cells, regulatory T cells and their extracellular vesicles. We also try to find out how stem cells can be “encouraged” to perform better in aging and in disease such as arthritis.

We are very fortunate in RJAH to be able to work closely with clinicians who themselves are very interested in research.

We have been publishing our findings in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Inflammopharmacology, Cytotherapy and Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases and have presented our work at several national and international meetings such as the 8th Malaysian Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Scientific Meeting, March 2022; the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles Annual Meeting, May 2022, Lyon, France (Figure 1); TERMIS EU 2023, March 2023, Manchester, UK; the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles Annual Meeting, May 2023, Seattle, USA; EULAR 2023 Congress, May 2023, Milan, Italy.

We are very grateful to the Orthopaedic Institute Charity, Oswestry for their continuous support.

Figure 1– Dr Oksana Kehoe and Becky Davies at the ISEV Annual Meeting in Lyon, France, May 2022.

Rheumatology Projects

Syndecan-3 regulates MSC adhesion, ERK and AKT signaling in vitro and its deletion enhances MSC efficacy in a model of inflammatory arthritis in vivo (Preclinical studies)

Fiona K Jones†, Andrei Stefan, Alasdair G Kay, Mairead Hyland, Rebecca Morgan, Nicholas R Forsyth, Addolorata Pisconti† and Oksana Kehoe

†Stony Brook University, NY, USA

Funded by Keele University School of Medicine, Oswestry Rheumatology Association and Orthopaedic Institute

Exploring the anti-inflammatory potential of extracellular vesicles from umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells

Mairead Hyland, Claire Mennan, Daniel Tonge†, Emma Wilson#, Aled Clayton*#, Oksana Kehoe

Keele University, #University of Chester; *#Cardiff University

Funded by the RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital Charity, Keele ACORN and Orthopaedic Institute.

Determining the role of microRNAs in extracellular vesicles produced by hypoxia-preconditioned mesenchymal stem cells in inflammation

Rebecca Davies, Karina Wright, Charlotte Hulme, Mark Platt†, Oksana Kehoe

†Loughborough University

 Funded by EPSRC/MRC Doctoral Training Centre in Regenerative Medicine

Psoriatic Arthritis: a Pilot study to Stratify biologic therapies (PSAPS)

Roshan Amarasena,  Jan Herman Kuiper,  Oksana Kehoe

Funded by RJAH Hospital Charitable Fund

Uncovering the role of proteoglycans in exosome biogenesis for improved regenerative medicine therapies

Rebecca Morgan, Cathy Merry*, Oksana Kehoe,
*University of Nottingham

Funded by EPSRC/MRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Therapeutic Agents for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Mairead Hyland, Claire Mennan, Karina Wright, Roshan Amarasena*, Emma Wilson#, Aled Clayton*#, Oksana Kehoe
* RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; #University of Chester; *#Cardiff University

Funded by the Orthopaedic Institute

Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Attenuate Disease Severity in Inflammatory Arthritis

Alasdair Kay, Rebecca Morgan, Mairead Hyland, Andrei Stefan, Oksana Kehoe

Funding was provided by the Orthopaedic Institute Ltd, Oswestry Rheumatology Association and RJAH Hospital Charity

The in vitro effect of syndecan-3 gene knockout on bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells’ properties (Preclinical studies)

Andrei Stefan, Alasdair Kay, Nick Forsyth, Fiona Jones*, Dada Pisconti*, Oksana Kehoe
*University of Liverpool

Funded by Orthopaedic Institute, Keele University School of Medicine and Oswestry Rheumatology Association

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