Owing to pharmacological specificity of DDR2 in OA as drug target, it is to be hypothesized that development of safe molecules as DDR2 antagonist could be the good option in the treatment of OA with promising landmark.
Since this cascade plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis, our study further investigates the hypothesis that discoidin domain receptor 2 is a candidate receptor for collagen II, and that transcription factor NFkappaB, lipid kinase PI3K, and the MAP kinases are constituent parts of this very signal transduction cascade.
These findings suggest that increased expression of DDR-2, resulting in the elevated expression of MMP-13, may be one of the common events in OA progression.