Figure 1.

General application of minicircles for studies on arthritic diseases. Minicircles are generated from parental vectors. Studies using minicircles on arthritic diseases can be categorized as (a) in vitro and in vivo basic research on arthritic diseases, (b) inducing arthritis using minicircles for in vitro and in vivo disease modeling, and (c) gene therapy for treating arthritic diseases. Minicircles can be used directly as a tool for gene therapy in some cases or as delivery systems into cells to generate cell-based therapeutics for arthritis.