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Growth of long bones and vertebrae is maintained postnatally by a long-lasting pool of progenitor cells. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate the output and maintenance of the cells that give rise to mature cartilage. Here we demonstrate that postnatal chondrocyte-specific deletion of a transcription factor Stat3 results in severely reduced proliferation coupled with increased hypertrophy, growth plate fusion, stunting and signs of progressive dysfunction of the articular cartilage. This effect is dimorphic, with females more strongly affected than males. Chondrocyte-specific deletion of the IL-6 family cytokine receptor gp130, which activates Stat3, phenocopied Stat3-deletion; deletion of Lifr, one of many co-receptors that signals through gp130, resulted in a milder phenotype. These data define a molecular circuit that regulates chondrogenic cell maintenance and output and reveals a pivotal positive function of IL-6 family cytokines in the skeletal system with direct implications for skeletal development and regeneration.

Osteoarthritis (OA) impacts hundreds of millions of people worldwide, with those affected incurring significant physical and financial burdens. Injuries such as focal defects to the articular surface are a major contributing risk factor for the development of OA. Current cartilage repair strategies are moderately effective at reducing pain but often replace damaged tissue with biomechanically inferior fibrocartilage. Here we describe the development, transcriptomic ontogenetic characterization and quality assessment at the single cell level, as well as the scaled manufacturing of an allogeneic human pluripotent stem cell-derived articular chondrocyte formulation that exhibits long-term functional repair of porcine articular cartilage. These results define a new potential clinical paradigm for articular cartilage repair and mitigation of the associated risk of OA.

Human monocytes activated by toll-like receptor 2/1 ligand (TLR2/1L) show enhanced expression of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and the vitamin D-activating enzyme 1α-hydroxylase (CYP27B1). The resulting intracrine conversion of precursor 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD) to active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) can stimulate expression of antibacterial cathelicidin (CAMP). To determine whether this response is functional in HIV-infected subjects (HIV+ ), serum from HIV+ subjects pre- and post-vitamin D supplementation was utilized in monocyte cultures with or without TLR2/1L. Expression of CYP27B1 and VDR was enhanced following treatment with TLR2/1L, although this effect was lower in HIV+ vs HIV- serum (p

Recent studies have shown inflammatory markers in affected neural tissues of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. We examined immunocytochemically spinal cord tissues of six patients with ALS, two with corticospinal tract degeneration secondary to cerebral infarcts and three control subjects without neuropathologic abnormalities. ALS spinal cords had dense macrophage infiltration (one log greater than control spinal cords) involving the white and gray matter, with heaviest infiltration of lateral and ventral columns and, in one patient, prefrontal gyrus and the occipital lobes of the brain. Macrophages in ALS spinal cord showed strong expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) (one log greater than control tissues) and inducible nitric oxide synthase. In the gray matter, macrophages surrounded and appeared to phagocytize neurons (NeuN-positive) that appeared to be dying. Vessels showed damage to the tight junction protein ZO-1 in relation to perivascular CD40 receptor-positive macrophages and CD40 ligand-positive T lymphocytes. ALS spinal cords, but not control cords, were sparsely infiltrated with mast cells. In control cases with corticospinal tract degeneration following hemispheric cerebral infarction, macrophage infiltration of the white matter was COX-2-negative and restricted to lateral and anterior corticospinal tracts. Our data suggest that inflammation in ALS spinal cord and cortex is based on innate immune responses by macrophages and mast cells and adaptive immune responses by T cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mechanism of bone formation by osteoblastic prostate cancer metastases is not well defined. Using knockout mice, it has been demonstrated that prostaglandins produced by COX-2 are critical for fracture repair. Therefore, our aim was to determine if COX-2 plays a role in the bone formation in osteoblastic prostate cancer metastases in bone., Materials and Methods: We assessed the influence of pharmacologic COX-2 inhibition in a SCID mouse intratibial injection model of bone metastasis using two human prostate cancer cell lines that produce either osteoblastic lesions (LAPC-9) or osteolytic lesions (PC-3, negative control). SC-58236, a COX-2 specific inhibitor, was used at a dose of 3 mg/Kg intraperitoneally 3 times per week in the Treatment groups for 8 weeks until sacrifice., Results: Western blot for COX-2 demonstrated that LAPC-9 cells expressed high levels of COX-2 while PC-3 cells did not. Treatment with SC-58236 significantly reduced the size of osteoblastic lesions after LAPC-9 injection based on both radiographic and histomorphometric criteria compared to the control group. In contrast, large osteolytic lesions were seen in both control and SC-58236 treated animals after PC-3 cell injections. The results of this study indicate that COX-2 inhibition can decrease the size of osteoblastic lesions produced by LAPC-9, a human prostate cancer cell line that expresses high levels of COX-2. This treatment had no effect on the osteolytic activity of PC-3 cells., Conclusion: These findings suggest that the progression of osteoblastic metastases induced by human prostate cancer cells may be limited by COX-2 inhibitors.