Highlights

• This review discusses the discoveries in signaling pathways relevant to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis, such as MAPK, WNT, PI3K/AKT, SYK, and JAK/STAT pathways.
• This review highlights the emergence of new inhibitors and the potential for targeting newly identified molecules like NAV2.
• The review paper explores technologies integrated into RA therapy, including Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTAC), nanoparticle-based drug delivery for targeted and sustained release, and CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing.

Summary

This review paper offers a comprehensive insight into the landscape of RA, an autoimmune disease that remains incurable. The review examines the progress made in understanding the pathogenesis of RA, emphasizing the significant role of abnormal signaling pathways in the disease’s development and progression.

Specifically, the review highlights the current therapeutic methods comprising NSAIDs, GCs, DMARDs, and the advent of JAK inhibitors, acknowledging their limitations in terms of side effects and the necessity for long-term management strategies. The continuous exploration of new potential targets and inhibitors, such as MAPK, WNT, PI3K/AKT, SYK, and JAK/STAT pathways, illustrates RA research’s dynamic and evolving landscape.

The review also points to the promise of emerging technologies like PROTAC, nanoparticles, and CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing as potential game-changers in RA treatment. The synthesis of current knowledge and future directions in RA research is a valuable resource for clinicians, researchers, and patients, offering hope for more effective and individualized treatments.

Q. Ding et al., “Signaling pathways in rheumatoid arthritis: implications for targeted therapy,” Sig Transduct Target Ther, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 68, Feb. 2023, doi: 10.1002/smll.202307379.