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Objective When cultured in monolayers, articular chondrocytes undergo an obvious phenotypic change. Although the involvement of integrins has been suggested, the exact mechanisms of the change have not been determined. This study was undertaken to clarify the mechanisms underlying the loss of chondrocyte phenotype early after plating. Methods Primary cultured human articular chondrocytes were used for the experiments. Involvement of respective integrins in the phenotypic change was investigated in RNA interference (RNAi) experiments. A signaling pathway involved in the change was identified in experiments using specific inhibitors and adenoviruses encoding mutated genes involved in the pathway. Adenoviruses carrying mutated GTPases were used to determine the involvement of small GTPases in the process. Results In monolayer-cultured chondrocytes, suppression of αv or β5 integrin expression by RNAi inhibited morphologic changes in the cells and increased (or prevented a reduction in) the expression of various cartilage matrix genes. Consistent results were obtained in experiments using a blocking antibody and a synthetic inhibitor of αvβ5 integrin. The decrease in cartilage matrix gene expression in chondrocytes after plating was mediated by ERK signaling, which was promoted primarily by αvβ5 integrin. In articular chondrocytes, the affinity of αvβ5 integrin for ligands was regulated by the small GTPase R-Ras. R-Ras was gradually activated in monolayer-cultured chondrocytes after plating, which caused a gradual decline in cartilage matrix gene expression through enhanced αvβ5 integrin activation and the subsequent increase in ERK signaling. Conclusion Our findings indicate that αvβ5 integrin may be involved in the change that occurs in monolayer-cultured chondrocytes after plating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflammation is now considered critical in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction. One of the mechanisms regulating the inflammatory process is the ubiquitin-proteasome system. We investigated whether variants of the 20S proteasome are associated with susceptibility to myocardial infarction and found a common SNP (minor allele frequency of 0.35) in the proteasome subunit α type 6 gene (PSMA6) conferring risk of myocardial infarction in the Japanese population (χ2 = 21.1, P = 0.0000044, 2,592 affected individuals versus 2,851 controls). We replicated this association in another panel of myocardial infarction and control subjects, although its relevance to other ethnic groups remains to be clarified. The SNP, located in the 5′ untranslated region of exon 1 in this gene, enhanced the transcription of PSMA6. Moreover, suppression of PSMA6 expression using short interfering RNA in cultured cells reduced activation of the transcription factor NF-κB by stabilizing phosphorylated IκB. Our results implicate this PSMA6 SNP as a previously unknown genetic risk factor for myocardial infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several genes have been implicated in the etiology of ankylosing spondylitis (AS); however, the significance of these genes except HLA-B27 remains to be elucidated. In this study, we examined the association of AS with novel candidate genes and previously reported genes other than HLA-B27. We examined a total of 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 15 genes by a sequential screening. We first genotyped 170 Japanese AS patients and 896 controls for the SNPs (first screen). Then, we genotyped eight SNPs with P < 0.05 in the first screen for 108 additional Japanese patients (second screen). We checked the replication of the association of the most significant SNP by genotyping 219 Taiwanese AS patients and 185 controls. When the first and second screens were combined, four SNPs showed nominal significance of P < 0.05. An intronic SNP (IVS1 + 996G > A) in MSX2, a novel candidate gene, showed the most significant association (P = 0.0030). The association was not replicated in our Taiwanese population; however, there was the same trend with the Japanese population in the allelic frequency distribution of the SNP. In the genes previously reported to have association with AS, only one synonymous SNP, c.963T > G in ANKH, showed a marginal association in the Japanese population (P = 0.045).