UConn researcher Jinhyung Lee will investigate a possible approach to protecting and repairing cartilage through a fellowship running from October 2026 through September 2027, the university reported October 13.
Lee works in professor Yupeng Chen’s Nanomedicine Lab. The project includes Yale School of Medicine professor Chuan-Ju Liu and uses living human cartilage cells in a laboratory tissue-chip system.
The team aims to deliver messenger RNA that temporarily instructs cells to produce a protein called Atsttrin. Dense cartilage makes delivery difficult; researchers will investigate tiny rod-shaped carriers designed to help the instructions reach cells.
Earlier animal research suggested potential cartilage benefits. UConn reports that early laboratory experiments detected the protein after delivery, but whether it protects or rebuilds tissue remains a question.
Researchers plan comparisons across donor cells and experimental conditions. This is early laboratory work, not an approved treatment or demonstrated patient benefit. Larger safety and effectiveness studies would be needed. The report relies on UConn’s account.