Estrogen prevents articular cartilage destruction in a mouse model of AMPK deficiency via ERK-mTOR pathway

Abstract

Our findings suggest that estrogen can protect articular cartilage from damage during OA development by promoting chondrocyte autophagy via ERK-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, and give new insight into the mechanism of the chondroprotective effect of estrogen.