Mechanical loading rescues mechanoresponsiveness in a human osteoarthritis explant model despite Wnt activation.

OBJECTIVES: Optimizing rehabilitation strategies for osteoarthritis necessitates a comprehensive understanding of chondrocytes' mechanoresponse in both health and disease, especially in the context of the interplay between loading and key pathways involved in osteoarthritis (OA) development, like canonical Wnt signaling. This study aims to elucidate the role of Wnt signaling in the mechanoresponsiveness of healthy and osteoarthritic human cartilage. METHODS: We used an ex-vivo model involving short-term physiological mechanical loading of human cartilage explants. First, the loading protocol for subsequent experiments was determined. Next, loading was applied to non-OA-explants with or without Wnt activation with CHIR99021. Molecular read-outs of anabolic, pericellular matrix and matrix remodeling markers were used to assess the effect of Wnt on cartilage mechanoresponse. Finally, the same set-up was used to study the effect of loading in cartilage from patients with established OA. RESULTS: Our results confirm that physiological loading maintains expression of anabolic genes in non-OA cartilage, and indicate a deleterious effect of Wnt activation in the chondrocyte mechanoresponsiveness. This suggests that loading-induced regulation of chondrocyte markers occurs downstream of canonical Wnt signaling. Interestingly, our study highlighted contrasting mechanoresponsiveness in the model of Wnt activation and the established OA samples, with established OA cartilage maintaining its mechanoresponsiveness, and mechanical loading rescuing the chondrogenic phenotype. CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into the mechanoresponsiveness of human cartilage in both non-OA and OA conditions. These findings hold the potential to contribute to the development of strategies that optimize the effect of dynamic compression by correcting OA pathological cell signaling.

Hypoxia and Wnt signaling inversely regulate expression of chondroprotective molecule ANP32A in articular cartilage.

OBJECTIVES: ANP32A is a key protector of cartilage health, via preventing oxidative stress and Wnt hyper-activation. We aimed to unravel how ANP32A is regulated in cartilage. METHODS: A bioinformatics pipeline was applied to identify regulators of ANP32A. Pathways of interest were targeted to study their impact on ANP32A in in vitro cultures of the human chondrocyte C28/I2 cell-line and primary human articular chondrocytes (hACs) from up to five different donors, using Wnt-activator CHIR99021, hypoxia-mimetic IOX2 and a hypoxia chamber. ANP32A was evaluated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blot. In vivo, the effect of hypoxia was examined by immunohistochemistry in mice injected intra-articularly with IOX2 after destabilization of the medial meniscus. Effects of Wnt hyper-activation were investigated using Frzb-knockout mice and wild-type mice treated intra-articularly with CHIR99021. Wnt inhibition effects were assessed upon intra-articular injection of XAV939. RESULTS: The hypoxia and Wnt signaling pathways were identified as networks controlling ANP32A expression. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated increases in ANP32A upon hypoxic conditions (1.3-fold in hypoxia in C28/I2 cells with 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.11-1.54] and 1.90-fold in hACs [95% CI: 1.56-2] and 1.67-fold in ANP32A protein levels after DMM surgery with IOX2 injections [95% CI: 1.33-2.08]). Wnt hyper-activation decreased ANP32A in chondrocytes in vitro (1.23-fold decrease [95% CI: 1.02-1.49]) and in mice (1.45-fold decrease after CHIR99021 injection [95% CI: 1.22-1.72] and 1.41-fold decrease in Frzb-knockout mice [95% CI: 1.00-1.96]). Hypoxia and Wnt modulated ataxia-telangiectasia mutated serine/threonine kinase (ATM), an ANP32A target gene, in hACs (1.89-fold increase [95% CI: 1.38-2.60] and 1.41-fold decrease [95% CI: 1.02-1.96]). CONCLUSIONS: Maintaining hypoxia and limiting Wnt activation sustain ANP32A and protect against osteoarthritis.

ANP32A represses Wnt signaling across tissues thereby protecting against osteoarthritis and heart disease.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate how ANP32A, previously linked to the antioxidant response, regulates Wnt signaling as unraveled by transcriptome analysis of Anp32a-deficient mouse articular cartilage, and its implications for osteoarthritis (OA) and diseases beyond the joint. METHODS: Anp32a knockdown chondrogenic ATDC5 cells were cultured in micromasses. Wnt target genes, differentiation markers and matrix deposition were quantified. Wnt target genes were determined in articular cartilage from Anp32a-deficient mice and primary human articular chondrocytes upon ANP32A silencing, using qPCR, luciferase assays and immunohistochemistry. Co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence and chromatin-immunoprecipitation quantitative PCR probed the molecular mechanism via which ANP32A regulates Wnt signaling. Anp32a-deficient mice were subjected to the destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) OA model and treated with a Wnt inhibitor and an antioxidant. Severity of OA was assessed by cartilage damage and osteophyte formation. Human Protein Atlas data analysis identified additional organs where ANP32A may regulate Wnt signaling. Wnt target genes were determined in heart and hippocampus from Anp32a-deficient mice, and cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis quantified. RESULTS: Anp32a loss triggered Wnt signaling hyper-activation in articular cartilage. Mechanistically, ANP32A inhibited target gene expression via histone acetylation masking. Wnt antagonist treatment reduced OA severity in Anp32a-deficient mice by preventing osteophyte formation but not cartilage degradation, contrasting with antioxidant treatment. Dual therapy ameliorated more OA features than individual treatments. Anp32a-deficient mice also showed Wnt hyper-activation in the heart, potentially explaining the cardiac hypertrophy phenotype found. CONCLUSIONS: ANP32A is a novel translationally relevant repressor of Wnt signaling impacting osteoarthritis and cardiac disease.

Complement component C1q is produced by isolated articular chondrocytes.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammation and innate immune responses may contribute to development and progression of Osteoarthritis (OA). Chondrocytes are the sole cell type of the articular cartilage and produce extracellular-matrix molecules. How inflammatory mediators reach chondrocytes is incompletely understood. Previous studies have shown that chondrocytes express mRNA encoding complement proteins such as C1q, suggesting local protein production, which has not been demonstrated conclusively. The aim of this study is to explore C1q production at the protein level by chondrocytes. DESIGN: We analysed protein expression of C1q in freshly isolated and cultured human articular chondrocytes using Western blot, ELISA and flow cytometry. We examined changes in mRNA expression of collagen, MMP-1 and various complement genes upon stimulation with pro-inflammatory cytokines or C1q. mRNA expression of C1 genes was determined in articular mouse chondrocytes. RESULTS: Primary human articular chondrocytes express genes encoding C1q, C1QA, C1QB, C1QC, and secrete C1q to the extracellular medium. Stimulation of chondrocytes with pro-inflammatory cytokines upregulated C1QA, C1QB, C1QC mRNA expression, although this was not confirmed at the protein level. Extracellular C1q bound to the chondrocyte surface dose dependently. In a pilot study, binding of C1q to chondrocytes resulted in changes in the expression of collagens with a decrease in collagen type 2 and an increase in type 10. Mouse articular chondrocytes also expressed C1QA, C1QB, C1QC, C1R and C1S at the mRNA level. CONCLUSIONS: C1q protein can be expressed and secreted by human articular chondrocytes and is able to bind to chondrocytes influencing the relative collagen expression.

Exostosin-1 enhances canonical Wnt signaling activity during chondrogenic differentiation.

OBJECTIVE: Exostosin-1 (Ext1) encodes a glycosyltransferase required for heparan sulfate (HS) chain elongation in HS-proteoglycan biosynthesis. HS chains serve as binding partners for signaling proteins, affecting their distribution and activity. The Wnt/ß-catenin pathway emerged as critical regulator of chondrogenesis. Yet, how EXT1 and HS affect Wnt/ß-catenin signaling during chondrogenesis remains unexplored. METHOD: Ext1 was stably knocked-down or overexpressed in ATDC5 chondrogenic cells cultured as micromasses. HS content was determined using ELISA. Chondrogenic markers Sox9, Col2a1, Aggrecan, and Wnt direct target gene Axin2 were measured by RT-qPCR. Proteoglycan content was evaluated by Alcian blue and DMMB assay, canonical Wnt signaling activation by ß-catenin Western blot and TOP/FOP assay. ATDC5 cells and human articular chondrocytes were treated with Wnt activators CHIR99021 and recombinant WNT3A. RESULTS: Ext1 knock-down reduced HS, and increased chondrogenic markers and proteoglycan accumulation. Ext1 knock-down reduced active Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. Conversely, Ext1 overexpressing cells, with higher HS content, showed decreased chondrogenic differentiation and enhanced Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. Wnt/ß-catenin signaling activation led to a down-regulation of Ext1 expression in ATDC5 cells and in human articular chondrocytes. CONCLUSIONS: EXT1 affects chondrogenic differentiation of precursor cells, in part via changes in the activity of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. Wnt/ß-catenin signaling controls Ext1 expression, suggesting a regulatory loop between EXT1 and Wnt/ß-catenin signaling during chondrogenesis.

Increased susceptibility to develop spontaneous and post-traumatic osteoarthritis in Dot1l-deficient mice.

OBJECTIVE: We earlier identified that the histone methyltransferase Disruptor of telomeric silencing 1-like (DOT1L) is as a master protector of cartilage health via limiting excessive activation of the Wnt pathway. However, cartilage-specific homozygous Dot1l knockout mice exhibited a severe growth phenotype and perinatal death, which hampered their use in induced or ageing models of osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to generate and examine haploinsufficient and inducible conditional Dot1l-deficient mouse models to evaluate the importance of DOT1L during post-traumatic or ageing-associated OA onset and progression. METHOD: We used cartilage-specific heterozygous and postnatal tamoxifen-inducible Dot1l knockout mice and performed destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) and ageing as OA models. Mice were examined histologically using X-rays and micro-computed tomography (µCT), and cartilage damage and osteophyte formation were assessed based on OARSI guidelines. Immunohistochemistry of DOT1L, H3K79me2, TCF1 and COLX was performed. RESULTS: Both Dot1l-deficient strains exhibit a phenotype characterized by joint remodeling with extensive osteophyte formation and ectopic ossification upon ageing, indicating accelerated development of spontaneous osteoarthritis. In the DMM-induced OA mouse model, absence of Dot1l resulted in increased cartilage damage. Wnt signalling hyper-activation and ectopic chondrocyte hypertrophy were observed in the articular cartilage of both Dot1l-deficient mice. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the functional relevance of DOT1L in vivo during the development of OA using genetically modified mice. Thus, maintaining or enhancing DOT1L activity during ageing or after trauma might prevent OA onset and progression.

Role of generation, architecture, pH and ionic strength on successful siRNA delivery and transfection by hybrid PPV-PAMAM dendrimers.

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) constitutes an excellent way of knocking down genes. However, it requires the use of delivery systems to reach the target cells, especially to neuronal cells. Dendrimers are one of the most widely used synthetic nanocarriers for siRNA delivery. However, due to the complexity of the dendrimer-siRNA interactions, when a new dendritic carrier is designed it is difficult to predict its efficiency to bind and to deliver siRNA. At the same time it is not easy to understand the origin of eventual limited functionalities. We have modeled the interactions between two dendrimers (TDG-G1 and TDG-G2) and siRNA using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The results were compared to experimental physico-chemical parameters such as siRNA complexation, complex stability, size, and zeta potentials and biological effects such as down-regulation of a specific RNA expression in cortical neurons in culture. Data indicate that the combination of rigid core and flexible branches guarantees strong siRNA binding, which is important to have a good transfection profile. However, the successful nanocarrier for siRNA delivery (TDG-G1) is identified not only by a high affinity for siRNA, but by a favorable equilibrium between a strong binding and the ability to release siRNA to exert its biological action. The conditions under which the dendriplex is formed are also relevant for transfection efficiency and biological activity.