In a unique and innovative approach, fully funded by Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation, the Löhning team establishes a link between experimental immunology and osteoarthritis (OA) research: Based on our knowledge about developmental programs and their plasticity in T lymphocytes, we hypothesize that chondrocytes possess similar molecular mechanisms of cell differentiation and plasticity. Pathological subset differentiation of chondrocytes likely is a decisive element in the induction and progression of OA.