MINI REVIEW article
Front. Musculoskelet. Disord.
Sec. Systemic Inflammatory Joint Diseases
This article is part of the Research TopicOrgan-Specific Autoimmune and Rare Diseases: Quantitative Modeling Approaches in Support of the Biology, Disease Progression, Pharmacology, and Developments of TherapiesView all 4 articles
Microengineering the Synovial Membrane Microenvironment in Rheumatoid Arthritis Research
Provisionally accepted
- First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a slow-progressive inflammatory autoimmune disorder characterized by synovial inflammation, hyperplasia, and joint degradation, leading to joint destruction and poor patients' quality of life. Numerous in vitro RA models have been developed to elucidate disease mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets however, most fail to fully recapitulate the in vivo synovial microenvironment, including the cellular heterogeneity, biomechanical stress, and dynamic cell-matrix interactions, limiting their translational relevance. This translational gap underscores the need for advanced 3D microengineered platforms that integrate patient-specific cells, biomechanical elements, and real-time biosensing to bridge in vitro findings to clinical outcomes. Recent progress in microengineering has enabled the development of systems that closely mimic the physiological and pathological conditions of the RA synovial membrane in vitro. This review highlights recent progress in microengineered synovial models and their applications in elucidating RA pathogenesis and seeking therapeutic interventions. We also introduce persisting technical and biological challenges, and emerging trajectories for innovation within this rapidly advancing discipline.
Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Synovial membrane microenvironment, microengineering, Synovium-on-a-chip, Synovial organoid
Received: 13 Sep 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pak, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hongjing Li, lhj68430@163.com
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