Topics

Dr. Marcus Interviewed by MIT's Technology Review
Biomet Announces Acquisition of Cartilix
Cartilage study published in The Baltimore Sun
Dr. Marcus performs first Denovo allograft in Northern Virginia
Dr. Marcus co-authors paper presented at Orthopaedic Research Society
Presentation accepted for International Cartilage Repair Society Meeting
Dr. Marcus Selected as a Top Doctor in Northern Virginia Magazine
Cartilix technology featured in SCIENCE
Paper Accepted by Orthopaedic Research Society
Dr. Marcus interviewed by MIT Technology Review
Dr. Marcus and the Cartilix Team present at the Cleveland Cartilage Summit
Dr. Marcus performs his 100th Cartilage Transplant
Dr. Marcus Interviewed by The Baltimore Sun
Dr. Marcus Interviewed by NIBIB
News Release - January 25, 2008
Dr. Marcus in The Washington Post
MRI Imaging Animation
Publication in Nature Materials
Innervue Diagnostic Scope System
Proteomics
Cartilage Research

"Faster Healing for Severe Fractures" by Brittany Sauser, MIT Technology Review

The cartilage repair product developed by our team will now be at the forefront of Biomet's orthobiologic effort in the field of cartilage repair. We are all excited about the opportunity this will give us to complete further studies and eventually gain FDA approval for this new device.

link: Biomet press release

"Coaxing stem cells to repair damaged tissue: Researcher sees future where body is coaxed to repair itself" by Frank D. Roylance, The Baltimore Sun, September 25, 2009

The first Denovo allograft to be done in Northern Virginia, using juvenile chondrocytes, was performed by Dr. Marcus to repair the medial condyle of the knee in a 32 year old woman. This new procedure offers the potential of repairing cartilage at a much lower cost than that of cartilage transplantation.

Dr. Marcus has co-authored a paper titled "Biomaterial Guided Cartilage Repair." The paper, presented at the Orthopaedic Research Society, can be downloaded here.

Biomasterial Guided Cartilage Repair poster presentation has been accepted for the International Cartilage Repair Society Meeting, which is being held in Miami Florida in May, 2009.

Link: Northern Virginia Magazine

The technology of Cartilix, Inc, the company which Dr. Marcus co-founded, is featured in an editorial in SCIENCE Magazine (January 2, 2009, page 47).

Link: "Repair or Replacement: A Joint Perspective" by Jacob Klein

"Biomaterial Guided Cartilage Repair in the Knee: Interim Results" is to be presented at the Orthopaedic Research Society on February 22, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV.

AUTHORS: Blanka Sharma(8); G Albers(1); Lucas Taminiau(1); A Stibbe(2); Uwe Pietzner(3); Lutz Völker(3); Achim Lüth(4); Helge Schmitz(4); Elizaveta Kon(5); Maurilio Marcacci(5); Norman Marcus(6); Jennifer Elisseeff(7)

Dr. Marcus has been interviewed for an article on cartilage repair surgery in the MIT Technology Review.

Link: "Regenerating Torn Cartilage" by Alexandra M. Goho

May 9, 2008 Cleveland
Dr. Marcus and the Cartilix Team presented their animal study at the Cleveland Cartilage Summit, held at the Cleveland Clinic, concerning a new product under development for cartilage repair.

Dr. Marcus has now performed his 100th Cartilage Transplant (ACI). There are very few doctors in the U.S with this level of experience.

Dr. Marcus was interviewed by The Baltimore Sun on the topic of osteoarthritis and hydrogels. See article "Gel May Hold Key to Arthritis Cure" by Dennis O'Brien.

Dr. Marcus was interviewed by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering on new methods for cartilage repair. See article "New Adhesives for Damanged Joints."

In March of 2008 Dr.Marcus will be the first surgeon in the United States to implant the new MTF Osteochondral Plug. This is the only frozen cartilage graft containing live cartilage cells.

See link for an animation of MRI Imaging.

Adhesive technology developed by the Cartilix research team has been published in the May, 2007 issue of Nature Materials.

Link: Editorial Commentary (PDF)

LInk: Article - "Multifunctional chondroitin sulphate for cartilage tissue–biomaterial integration" (PDF)

Dr. Marcus is currently the only surgeon in the Northern Virginia area using this new piece of equipment, which facilitates a comprehensive view of the knee with the patient awake and watching. Check out Innervue for details.

If DNA is the “source code” for our bodies, then the end product—the stuff that makes our bodies work—are the proteins. Only recently has it become possible to study proteins on a grand scale, thanks to the development of fantastic databases, the sequencing of the genome, computers, and a special device called a mass spectrometer. The first problem to consider is that there are thought to be 30-40,000 genes, but there are ten times as many proteins. This means that DNA sequencing alone does not “explain” everything, that the proteins are somehow modified to reflect specialized function. This is the realm of post translational modification, which is where mass spectrometry excels.

Fortunately, compared with most tissues, cartilage does not have many proteins. Cartilage is composed of a small volume of cells that secrete proteins into the matrix, or gel; thxxe gel attracts water, and it is this firm but elastic, acellular material that moves our joints and bears our weight. If the gel cracks and splits, it will eventually delaminate and we lose the cushion upon which we walk. Arthritis (osteoarthritis) is the condition named for deterioration of the joint that is visible, on radiographs, by the loss of this cushion. Radiographs do not image the cartilage directly.

So cartilage provides a good model for studying a relatively small number of (important) proteins with a specific function. I have collaborated with the proteomics group at the University of Virginia, Dr. Ben Garcia and Dr. Don Hunt, in applying this technology. We have found, first of all, that the study of very, very small amounts of protein is possible by this method, and the specific proteins can be identified accurately. Secondly, there are approximately 100 proteins, some of very small abundance, in cartilage, and many of these have not before been recognized. Our studies will hopefully lay a foundation to examine these proteins in health and disease. Future treatments aimed at reversing cartilage disease will ultimately be proven by methods such as this—and the results will be measurable.

Reference:
Protein Profile of osetoarthritic human articular cartilage using tandem mass spectrometry. Garcia, B, Platt, M Born, T. Shabanowitz, J Marcus N.A. & Hunt, D.F./ RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY 2006, 20; 1-8.

My interest in cartilage research began in 1997 when I learned how to perform cartilage transplantation (autologous chondrocyte transplantation) utilizing the technique developed by Lars Peterson and Matts Brittberg, commercialized by Genzyme. This was one of the first examples of tissue engineering, in which the intent is to use living cells, sometimes coupled with scaffolds or other factors, as a method of repairing damaged tissue in the body. In orthopaedic surgery, this is sometimes referred to as orthobiologics. Many people in the field think that biologic repair someday will supplant mechanical repair—like total joint replacement—in many circumstances, especially if the problem is diagnosed early and treated before complete destruction of the tissue occurs.

Image: TK Kim, B. Sharma et al, OsteoArthritis and Cartilage (2003) 11, 653-664.

Normal cartilage grows in layers and in a very specific way. The cells are grown from the bottom up and make a very important matrix which has no cells in it and comprises most of the cartilage volume. The matrix attracts water. In our lab we have been able to replicate some of the natural layering of cartilage.

Experience in this field is still very, very early. Several amazing developments have already occurred in the 21st century that have put it on the map, and both research interest and commercial development interest is high. The first development that inspired my interest was the deciphering of the human genome, initially “completed” in 2002 and refined even more so since then. This accomplishment led to the development of “gene chips” that can test cells for biomarkers, which really means sequences of DNA that make certain proteins. If cells are cultured in the laboratory to help heal human tissues, it would be a good idea to know that they are making the right proteins—those proteins normally found in healthy tissue. So for cartilage, this requires the development of biomarker tests that are specific to the cartilage matrix proteins. My work on this subject was performed in conjunction with Dr. Geraldine Grant and the Department of Biomedical Genomics at George Mason University.

Reference:
Genomics of Long Term Culture of Normal Human Chondrocytes, involvement of KLF4 and FRZB. Grant, G., Castano, V., Dong, Y., O'Reilly, L., Hariharan, N., Marcus, N.A., Chandhoke, V. Currently in press.