Exploring Degenerative Mechanisms and Advancing Regenerative Therapies for Musculoskeletal Degeneration-Related Diseases

The field of gerontology is witnessing a significant demographic transition, as the global population of individuals aged 65 and above is growing rapidly, outpacing all other age brackets. This shift has resulted in a corresponding rise in musculoskeletal degenerative diseases, which significantly impair the health and life quality of older people. On a microscopic level, aging induces pronounced degenerative changes in bones, cartilage, intervertebral discs, and ligaments, which can further affect the adjacent muscle tissue and nerve tissue. These alterations contribute to primary musculoskeletal diseases like osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc degeneration, sarcopenia, and secondary injuries like spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury, and osteoporotic fractures. While notable advancements have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying molecular pathology is lacking, impeding the development of therapies that could reverse disease progression and promote effective tissue regeneration. Currently, available treatments primarily focus on mitigating symptoms rather than fully restoring tissue functionality. For example, intervertebral disc degeneration rarely heals spontaneously, and existing interventions mainly target nerve compression alleviation without effectively regenerating nucleus pulposus tissue in clinical settings.

This Research Topic aims to explore the new mechanisms and innovative strategies that can drive tissue regeneration in musculoskeletal degeneration-related diseases, including both primary diseases and secondary injuries. By shedding light on the roles played by the physicochemical microenvironment (like biomechanics, metabolites, etc), cellular processes (like senescence, inflammation, and oxidative stress, etc), and interorgan crosstalk (like nerve-bone crosstalk, liver-bone crosstalk, Lung-bone crosstalk, etc) in tissue degeneration and regeneration, this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of these pivotal mechanisms. Additionally, pioneering novel methodologies to enhance musculoskeletal tissue regeneration, such as leveraging stem cells, employing biomaterials, refining gene editing techniques, and uncovering effective small-molecule drugs, are expected. Evaluating the safety and efficacy of these groundbreaking approaches is crucial to laying strong theoretical and practical groundwork for their clinical adoption.

To gather further insights into the scope of tissue regeneration in musculoskeletal degenerative disease, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
o Molecular pathology in musculoskeletal tissue degeneration and regeneration
o Mechanisms of the physicochemical microenvironment regulation in musculoskeletal tissue degeneration and regeneration
o The role of cellular biological processes, such as cellular senescence, inflammation, and oxidative stress, in musculoskeletal tissue degeneration and regeneration
o Mechanisms of interorgan crosstalk during musculoskeletal tissue degeneration and regeneration, like nerve-bone crosstalk, liver-bone crosstalk, lung-bone crosstalk
o Innovative methodologies to enhance tissue regeneration in musculoskeletal degeneration-related diseases
o Comparison of the safety and efficacy of novel regeneration strategies for musculoskeletal degeneration-related diseases
o Stem cell therapy, biomaterials, bioinformatics, and gene editing techniques in musculoskeletal degeneration-related diseases

Keywords: Musculoskeletal Degeneration; Degeneration-Related Secondary Injuries; Degenerative Mechanisms; Regenerative Therapies; Interorgan Crosstalk

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.