Research Paper
miR-214-3p derived exosomes inhibit inflammation in chondrocytes and cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis rats
- 1 Department of Orthopaedics, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University, School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China
- 2 Department of Orthopaedics, The People’s Hospital of Wugang City, Wugang 422400, China
Received: July 1, 2021 Accepted: August 11, 2021
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203566How to Cite
Copyright: © 2021 Lai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: MicroRNAs (miRs) are regulators of number of cellular process. miRs enclosed within exosomes can be crucial regulators of intercellular signalling and could be an important biomarker of various age associated disorders. Role of exosomal enclosed miRs in osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes and synovial fibroblasts (SFBs) remains poorly studied. Here we profiled and studied the effect of synovial fluid derived exosomal miRs on inflammation, survival, proliferation of chondrocyte in correlation with cartilage degeneration.
Methods: Exosomes were isolated from synovial fluid collected from OA subjects and were analysed by transmission electron microscopy. miRs were isolated and were submitted to microarray profiling. Web based PCR analysis was done. Chondrocyte proliferation and colony formation assay was performed. Cell cycle and apoptosis study was done by flow-cytometer. Gene expression was done by qRT-PCR analysis and protein expression by western blot assay. Rat model of OA was created by operating the knee by anterior cruciate ligament and resection of medial menisci (ACLT+MMx) method. Micro-CT analysis, histological analysis, immunohistochemical staining and TUNEL assay was also performed.
Results: About 17 miRs were found to be expressed differentially in the synovial fluid collected from the control and OA subjects. Microarray analysis confirmed, expression of miR-214-3p was significantly downregulated in the synovial fluid exosome of OA subjects. miR-214-3p mimic promoted migration and proliferation of chondrocyte and suppressed apoptosis. Treatment also inhibited the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6. SFB-miR-214-3p exosomes suppressed apoptosis and also inflammation in chondrocytes. In vivo study suggested that SFB-exosomal miR-214-3p from rats suppressed the formation of osteophytes, prevented degeneration of cartilage and exerted anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effect in articular cartilage tissue.
Conclusion: The findings suggested that SFB-miR-214-3p exosomes can ameliorate chondrocyte inflammation and degeneration of cartilage tissues. The study confirms therapeutic potential of SFB-miR-214-3p exosomes in treating OA.