1. Academic Validation
  2. Mechanical overloading-induced miR-325-3p reduction promoted chondrocyte senescence and exacerbated facet joint degeneration

Mechanical overloading-induced miR-325-3p reduction promoted chondrocyte senescence and exacerbated facet joint degeneration

  • Arthritis Res Ther. 2023 Apr 4;25(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s13075-023-03037-3.
Jinyun Zhao # 1 2 3 Chengjun Li # 1 2 3 Tian Qin 1 2 3 Yuxin Jin 1 2 3 Rundong He 1 2 3 Yi Sun 1 2 3 Zhide Liu 1 2 3 Tianding Wu 1 2 3 Chunyue Duan 1 2 3 Yong Cao 4 5 6 Jianzhong Hu 7 8 9
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Spine Surgery and Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China.
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan Province, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China.
  • 3 National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China.
  • 4 Department of Spine Surgery and Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China. caoyong1912@163.com.
  • 5 Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan Province, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China. caoyong1912@163.com.
  • 6 National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China. caoyong1912@163.com.
  • 7 Department of Spine Surgery and Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China. jianzhonghu@hotmail.com.
  • 8 Key Laboratory of Organ Injury, Aging and Regenerative Medicine of Hunan Province, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China. jianzhonghu@hotmail.com.
  • 9 National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China. jianzhonghu@hotmail.com.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Objective: Lumbar facet joint (LFJ) degeneration is one of the main causes of low back pain (LBP). Mechanical stress leads to the exacerbation of LFJ degeneration, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. This study was intended to investigate the mechanism of LFJ degeneration induced by mechanical stress.

Methods: Here, mice primary chondrocytes were used to screen for key MicroRNAs induced by mechanical overloading. SA-β-gal staining, qRT-PCR, western blot, and histochemical staining were applied to detect chondrocyte senescence in vitro and in vivo. We also used a dual-luciferase report assay to examine the targeting relationship of miRNA-325-3p (miR-325-3p) and Trp53. By using NSC-207895, a p53 activator, we investigated whether miR-325-3p down-regulated trp53 expression to reduce chondrocyte senescence. A mice bipedal standing model was performed to induce LFJ osteoarthritis. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) was intraarticularly injected to evaluate the effect of miR-325-3p on facet joint degeneration.

Results: We observed chondrocyte senescence both in human LFJ osteoarthritis tissues and mice LFJ after bipedally standing for 10 weeks. Mechanical overloading could promote chondrocyte senescence and senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) expression. MicroRNA-array analysis identified that miR-325-3p was obviously decreased after mechanical overloading, which was further validated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in vivo. Dual-luciferase report assay showed that miR-325-3p directly targeted Trp53 to down-regulated its expression. MiR-325-3p rescued chondrocyte senescence in vitro, however, NSC-207895 reduced this effect by activating the p53/p21 pathway. Intraarticular injection of AAV expressing miR-325-3p decreased chondrocyte senescence and alleviated LFJ degeneration in vivo.

Conclusion: Our findings suggested that mechanical overloading could reduce the expression of miR-325-3p, which in turn activated the p53/p21 pathway to promote chondrocyte senescence and deteriorated LFJ degeneration, which may provide a promising therapeutic strategy for LFJ degeneration.

Keywords

Chondrocyte senescence; Degeneration; Lumbar facet joints; Mechanical overloading; MiR-325-3p.

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