Roberto Andresen Eguiluz
University of California-Merced, CA·Biomedical Engineering·Early-career
Healthy joints glide with very little friction. Two things make this possible: cartilage, the smooth cushion that covers the ends of bones, and synovial fluid, the natural lubricant inside the joint.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Biophysics
Materials Science
- Topics
cartilage
arthritis
synovial fluid
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Build model articular cartilage surfaces with controlled molecular makeup and fibronectin conformations, so that the effect of each surface component on lubrication can be tested on its own.
- Measure how synovial fluid components, the joint's natural lubricating molecules, attach to and stay on cartilage surface models that contain fibronectin in different conformations.
- Use nanomechanical and nanotribological measurements, which test friction and wear at the molecular scale, to link fibronectin-guided synovial fluid film formation to boundary lubrication and wear protection.
More about the research
Lubricating molecules from the fluid stick to the cartilage surface and form thin protective films. When cartilage is damaged, this system breaks down, and diseases such as arthritis can follow, causing pain for millions of people. This project asks how the molecules on the cartilage surface control friction and wear.
Why it matters
Arthritis affects millions of people in the US, and it often begins with damaged cartilage that no longer lubricates the joint well. By showing which surface molecules hold lubricating films in place, this work could point to molecular strategies for treating arthritis. These strategies might aim to restore the joint's natural friction-reducing layer.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael Francis
University of South Florida, FL·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine whether injecting lactic acid into the knee joint capsule of rabbits with degenerated knees causes calcium pyrophosphate crystals to form, measuring crystal prevalence, metabolomics and phenomics.
Yolanda Vasquez
Oklahoma State University, OK·Chemistry
Develop conjugation chemistry that attaches methotrexate to gold nanoparticles through linkers that break in response to reactive oxygen species or acidic joint fluid, creating a slow-release carrier for joint injection.
Sanja Novak
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, AR·Physiology
Evaluate how blood vessels in the synovium and subchondral bone change during OA development. Test whether early microvascular damage or later synovial angiogenesis drives cartilage damage, including after mechanical-stress knee injury.
The school
University of California-Merced: 3 labs on PI Pages, $77M a year on research, 112 research doctorates a year.
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