The present disclosure relates to a composition for treating or diagnosing osteoarthritis targeting activin A receptor type 2B (ACVR2B). More specifically, the present disclosure provides ACVR2B as a biomarker for diagnosing osteoarthritis because it was found that expression and activity of ACVR2B were increased at an early stage of osteoarthritis, expression of Mmp3, Mmp13, and Cox2 that induce destruction of cartilage was increased thereby, and expression of the genes was suppressed by inhibition of ACVR2B expression. In addition, since it was found that osteoarthritis was alleviated by suppressing the expression of ACVR2B, the present disclosure provides an ACVR2B expression or activity inhibitor as a therapeutic agent for osteoarthritis.

Provided herein are methods of treating cartilage disorders in a subject using a dual CLK/DYRK inhibitor, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of solvate thereof, or a combination of a CLK inhibitor, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of solvate thereof, and DYRK inhibitor or, pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.

The present disclosure relates to an oligopeptide. The oligopeptide includes an amino acid sequence. The amino acid sequence includes a binding motif, and the binding motif has a specific amino acid sequence. The present disclosure also relates to a testing kit including the oligopeptide and a medical composition including the oligopeptide.

Provided herein are methods and biomarkers useful for detecting and diagnosing osteoarthritis and predicting the progression of osteoarthritis in subjects. The diagnoses and predictions of prognosis may be used to develop treatment plans for subjects. Also included are methods of treating subjects and administering pharmaceuticals based on the diagnosis and prognosis predictions.

A composition according to an embodiment includes a first population of transformed mammalian cells with a transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), the first population having a TGF-β expression level of 0.65 ng/10.sup.5 cells/24 hours or more, and a second population of mammalian cells which are not transformed with the transforming growth factor beta, the second population having an expression level of a thrombospondin 1 (TSP-1) expression level of 31 ng/10.sup.5 cells/24 hours or more.

Methods and compositions for treating, inhibiting, and/or preventing the progression of osteoarthritis comprise compositions that blocks or inhibits the expression, induction, activity, or signaling of LRRC15 protein or the expression, transcription or activity of the LRRC15 gene and administering such compositions to a human subject having osteoarthritis and in need thereof.

The present invention provides means and methods for treating Interleukin 18 (IL-18)-associated diseases and disorders. In particular, the present invention discloses antibodies specific for free IL-18 and IL-18 Binding Protein (IL-18BP) for use in such treatments and for the diagnosis of the indications.

An antibody specifically reactive with an epitope of collagen type X alpha 1 comprised in the NC1 domain C-terminal amino acid sequence SFSGFLVAPM-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 1), and a method of immunoassay for detecting in a biological sample an epitope in the NC1 domain C-terminal amino acid sequence SFSGFLVAPM-COOH (SEQ ID NO: 1) of collagen type X alpha 1, by contacting the biological sample with the antibody, and determining the amount of binding of the antibody.

The present invention relates to biomarkers associated with the clinical response to an FGF-18 compound before or during treatment of a cartilage disorder. The present invention more particularly relates to specific proteins present in the blood, serum, synovial fluid or in the urine, which can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of cartilage disorders. The invention further discloses specific proteins that are related to cartilage response to an FGF-18 compound treatment as well as diagnostic tools and kits based on their expression profile. Thus, the invention can be used in predicting the response to an FGF-18 compound treatment, before starting the treatment with FGF-18 or during the treatment. It could be used for selecting/identifying subjects to be treated by intra-articular administration of an FGF-18 compound. The use of these biomarkers in diagnostics could result in increased benefit and reduced risk in subjects.

The present invention provides a method for evaluating effectiveness of a cell therapeutic agent. When using TGF-β and/or TSP-1 expression level(s) in: (a) a first population of transformed mammalian cells with TGF-β; and (b) a second population of untransformed mammalian cells with the same gene, respectively, as a criterion for determining effectiveness of a cell therapeutic agent, and whether or not expression thereof, it is possible to definitely determine the therapeutic efficacy of each cell therapeutic agent prior to initiation of the treatment. In addition, since use of a cell therapeutic agent without therapeutic effects is avoided, undesired procedures and side effects may not be entailed.