Osteopontin promotes chondrocyte proliferation in osteoarthritis / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Osteopontin, a kind of extracellular matrix glycoprotein, has been found to participate in synthesis and catabolism of osteoarthritic chondrocyte extracellular matrix. However, the effect of osteopontin on the proliferation ability of osteoarthritic chondrocytes is little reported. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of osteopontin on the chondrocyte proliferation in human knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Cartilage samples were obtained from the patients with knee osteoarthritis undergoing knee arthroplasty at the Xiangya Hospital from January 2012 to June 2012. The chondrocytes were isolated and cultured, and then divided into four groups blank control, osteopontin, Con-shRNA and osteopontin-shRNA groups. The cell proliferation was detected by MTT and BrdU assays. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After transfection of osteopontin-shRNA lentivirus, the infection rate was up to 80%. Compared with the blank control group, osteopontin group showed a significant increase in the absorbance value of osteoarthritic chondrocytes, while after osteopontin-shRNA lentivirus transfection, the absorbance value was significantly decreased (bothP < 0.05). Additionally, after osteopontin-shRNA transfection, the expression level of osteopontin was significantly downregulated (P < 0.05). To conclude, osteopontin can promote the proliferation of osteoarthritic chondrocytes, which is considered as a new treatment target for osteoarthritis.