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Tendinopathy is a common tendon disorder characterized by pain, swelling, and dysfunction. Current evidence has demonstrated that the depletion of stem cell pool and non-tenogenic differentiation of tendon-derived stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) might account for the pathogenesis of tendinopathy. FNDC5/Irisin, as a novel exercise-induced myokine, is proved to be involved in the exercise-induced protective effects on musculoskeletal disorders. However, whether irisin can affect TSPCs fate is still unknown. To ascertain the roles of irisin on the proliferation and tenogenic differentiation of TSPCs, rat TSPCs were isolated and incubated with irisin. Cell viability, phenotypic changes, and related signaling pathways were evaluated by CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, real-time PCR, Western blot, immunofluorescence, and proteasome activity assay. We found that irisin treatment increased the proliferative and colony-forming abilities, and promoted the tenogenic differentiation of TSPCs by upregulating the expression of YAP/TAZ. In conclusion, our work showed for the first time that irisin promotes the proliferation and tenogenic differentiation of rat TSPCs in vitro by activating YAP/TAZ, and the process was associated with a ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway. In conclusion, irisin and agents targeting YAP/TAZ may be promising therapeutic options for tendinopathy.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease characterized by deterioration of articular cartilage. Dual specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5), a member of the DUSP subfamily, is known to regulate cellular inflammation. Here, we studied the relationship between DUSP5 and OA by knockdown and overexpression DUSP5, respectively. Results from in vitro experiments demonstrated that the knockdown of DUSP5 increased interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced expression of inflammatory genes, such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in chondrocytes, whereas it decreased the expression of anti-inflammatory genes, such as tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3) and IL-10. Conversely, the overexpression of DUSP5 suppressed the IL-1β-induced expression of iNOS, COX-2, and MMPs, and upregulated the expression of TIMP3 and IL-10. Moreover, knockdown of DUSP5 enhanced the IL-1β-induced activation of NF-κB and ERK pathways, whereas its overexpression inhibited these pathways. DUSP5 overexpression prevented cartilage degeneration in a rat OA model, while its knockdown reversed that effect. Our findings reveal that DUSP5 suppresses IL-1β-induced chondrocyte inflammation by inhibiting the NF-κB and ERK signaling pathways and ameliorates OA.

Synovial inflammation is a major pathological feature of osteoarthritis (OA), which is a chronic degenerative joint disease. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS), localized in the synovial membrane, are specialized secretory cells. During OA synovitis, FLS produce chemokines and cytokines that stimulate chondrocytes to secrete inflammatory cytokines and activate matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in FLS. Recent studies have demonstrated that sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) performs as a key regulator in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis in OA. This study aims at ascertaining whether SIRT3 is involved in OA synovitis. The overexpression (OE) and knockdown (KD) of SIRT3 are established by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and recombinant plasmid in human FLS. The anti-inflammatory effect of SIRT3 underlying in oleanolic acid- (OLA-) prevented interleukin-1β- (IL-1β-) induced FLS dysfunction is then evaluated in vitro. Additionally, the molecular mechanisms of SIRT3 are assessed, and the interaction between SIRT3 and NF-κB is investigated. The data suggested that SIRT3 can be detected in human synovial tissues during OA, and OLA could elevate SIRT3 expression. OE-SIRT3 and OLA exhibited equal authenticity to repress inflammation and reverse oxidative stress changes in IL-1β-induced human FLS dysfunction. KD-SIRT3 was found to exacerbate inflammation and oxidative stress changes in human FLS. Furthermore, it was found that SIRT3 could directly bind with NF-κB, resulting in the suppression of NF-κB activation induced by IL-1β in human FLS, which then repressed synovial inflammation in OA. In general, the activation of SIRT3 by OLA inhibited synovial inflammation by suppressing the NF-κB signal pathway in FLS, and this suggested that SIRT3 is a potential target for OA synovitis therapy.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the prominent risk factors for pathological development and progression of tendinopathy. One feature of DM‐related changes in tendinopathy is accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in affected tendons. Pioglitazone (Pio), a peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ agonist, performs a protective effect against AGEs. The present study aimed to investigate the pathogenetic role of AGEs on tendon‐derived stem cells (TDSCs) and to determine the effect of Pio on AGEs‐induced TDSC dysfunctions. Results indicated that AGEs induced TDSC apoptosis as well as compensatory activation of autophagy. Pharmacologic activation/inhibition of autophagy leaded to alleviate/exacerbate apoptosis induced by AGEs. We further confirmed the effect of Pio on autophagy, which ameliorated apoptosis and abnormal calcification caused by AGEs both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, we suggest that Pio ameliorates the dysfunctions of TDSCs against AGEs by promoting autophagy, and we also reveal that Pio is a potential pharmacological choice for tendinopathy.

Tendinopathy is a common musculoskeletal disorder that mainly affects athletes and people of older age. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) plays an important role in initiating tendinopathy. Tectorigenin, an extract component of Belam-canda Chinesis, possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis activity. The present study was established to investigate the role of tectorigenin against the pathogenetic effects of TNF-α on tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) in vivo and in vitro. The findings indicated that TNF-α is able to induce TDSC inflammation, apoptosis, and ossification, as well as activate nuclear factor-kappa B and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Furthermore, the results confirmed that tectorigenin is able to inhibit the TNF-α-induced inflammation, apoptosis, and ossification. Tectorigenin treatment decreases activation of NF-kappa B and MAPK signaling in TDSCs. Tectorigenin ameliorates tendinopathy in the in vivo rat model. Thus, these data reveal that tectorigenin can serve as a potential treatment for tendinopathy.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent joint disease and uncontrolled inflammation is now recognized to play vital roles in OA development. Targeting the endogenous counterpart of inflammation may develop new therapeutic approaches in resolving inflammation persistence and treating inflammatory disease including OA. The orphan nuclear receptor 4A1 (NR4A1) is a key negative regulator of inflammatory responses but its role in osteoarthritis remains unclear. In the present study, we found that the NR4A1 expression was elevated in human osteoarthritis cartilage and in vitro OA model, which could be blocked by NF-κB signal inhibitor JSH23. The overexpression of NR4A1 inhibited, whereas knockdown of NR4A1 enhanced IL-1β induced COX-2, iNOS, MMP3, MMP9 and MMP13 expression, and luciferase reporter activity of NF-κB response element. Though NR4A1 was upregulated in inflammatory stimulation and creates a negative feedback loop, persistent inflammatory stimulation inhibited NR4A1 expression and activation. The expression of NR4A1 declined rapidly after an initial peak in conditions of chronic IL-1β stimulation, which could be partially restored by HDACs inhibitor SAHA. The phosphorylation of NR4A1 was increased in human osteoarthritis cartilage, and p38 inhibitor SB203580, JNK inhibitor SP600125 and ERK inhibitor FR180204 could significantly inhibited IL-1β induced NR4A1 phosphorylation. Reactivation of NR4A1 by its agonist cytosporone B could inhibit IL-1β induced chondrocyte inflammation and expression of COX-2, iNOS, MMP3, MMP9, and MMP13. In rat OA model, intra-articular injection of cytosporone B protected cartilage damage and ameliorated osteoarthritis. Thus, our study demonstrated that the NR4A1 is a key endogenous inhibitor of chondrocyte inflammation, which was relatively inactivated under chronic inflammatory stimulation through HDACs mediated transcriptional suppression and MAKP dependent phosphorylation in osteoarthritis. NR4A1 agonist cytosporone B could reactivate and restore the inhibitory regulatory ability of NR4A1, prevent excessive inflammation, and ameliorates osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint disease and causes major pain and disability in adults. It has been reported that mitochondrial dysfunction in chondrocytes is associated with osteoarthritis. Sirtuins are a family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent histone deacetylases that have the ability to deacetylate protein targets and play an important role in the regulation of cell physiological and pathological processes. Among sirtuin family members, sirtuin 3, which is mainly located in mitochondria, can exert its deacetylation activity to regulate mitochondrial function, regeneration, and dynamics; these processes are presently recognized to maintain redox homeostasis to prevent oxidative stress in cell metabolism. In this review, we provide present opinions on the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction in osteoarthritis. Furthermore, the potential protective mechanism of SIRT3-mediated mitochondrial homeostasis in the progression of osteoarthritis is discussed.

Summary Objective Metabolic disorders and inflammation of chondrocytes are major pathological changes in aging cells and osteoarthritis (OA). Recent studies demonstrated age-related mitochondrial dysfunction may be a key contributing factor in the development of OA. Mitofusin 2 (MFN2) is a key regulator of mitochondrial fusion, cell metabolism, autophagy and apoptosis. This study was performed to ascertain whether MFN2 was involved in the aging of chondrocytes and OA. Methods Metabolic measurements were taken in rat chondrocytes between different ages (3-week, 5-month, 12-month). MFN2 activity was detected in both human and rat chondrocytes during aging and OA. Then, knockdown of MFN2 with small interfering RNA (siRNA) was performed to confirm whether MFN2 contributes to metabolic changes. Lentiviruses were used to establish MFN2-overexpression/knockdown OA models both in vivo and in vitro to confirm whether MFN2 contributes to OA progress. Further, regulatory mechanism of MFN2 was assessed and interaction between MFN2 and PARKIN was performed. Results A metabolic shift to mitochondrial respiration was confirmed in rat chondrocytes during aging. MFN2 expression was elevated in both human and rat chondrocytes during aging and OA. Knockdown of MFN2 with siRNA reversed the age-related metabolic changes in rat chondrocytes. Overexpression of MFN2 exacerbated inflammation and OA progress, while knockdown of MFN2 ameliorated inflammation and OA progress. Further, MFN2 could be ubiquitinated by PARKIN, declined PARKIN expression during aging and OA might result in elevated MFN2 expression. Conclusions Elevated MFN2 contributes to metabolic changes and inflammation during aging of rat chondrocytes and osteoarthritis.