00:00Why does rheumatoid arthritis attack some joints and completely spare others?
00:04Scientists at Oxford's Kennedy Institute think they finally have an answer,
00:08and it starts before you're even born.
00:11Researchers compared finger joints that are commonly hit by the disease
00:14with joints nearby that are almost always spared.
00:17They found that the vulnerable joints already had more synovial tissue
00:21and a bigger population of specialized connective tissue cells
00:25while still developing in the womb.
00:26Those cells also responded differently when exposed to inflammatory signals
00:31using cutting-edge single-cell sequencing and high-resolution 3D imaging.
00:36The team built one of the most detailed maps ever made of developing human joints.
00:41The conclusion, the architecture of a joint laid down before birth,
00:45may help decide years or even decades later whether arthritis takes hold there.
00:50The findings, published in Nature Immunology, could open entirely new paths for understanding
00:55and eventually treating one of the most common autoimmune diseases in the world.
01:01Disclosure, this video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced
01:04using AI-assisted tools.
