Open AccessFollicle‐stimulating hormone worsens osteoarthritis by causing inflammation and chondrocyte dedifferentiation
Author(s) -
Huan Zhikun,
Wang Yan,
Zhang Mengqi,
Zhang Xiujuan,
Liu Yaping,
Kong Lei,
Xu Jin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
febs open bio
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.718
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 2211-5463
DOI - 10.1002/2211-5463.13238
Subject(s) - downregulation and upregulation , kegg , chondrocyte , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , stimulation , endocrinology , extracellular matrix , hormone , cartilage , signal transduction , follicle stimulating hormone , chemistry , gene , biology , transcriptome , gene expression , biochemistry , anatomy , luteinizing hormone
Previous studies have found follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) receptors on chondrocytes (cartilage cells), but the mechanism of FSH action on chondrocytes is not clear. The purpose of this experiment is to study whether FSH affects chondrocytes and how it causes changes in these cells. Our results show that osteoarthritis became worse after FSH injection in the knee joint of mice. After the stimulation of chondrocytes by FSH, a total of 664 up‐regulated genes, such as Col12a1 and Col1a1 , and 644 down‐regulated genes, such as MGP , were screened by transcriptomics. A subset of extracellular matrix (ECM)‐related genes and pathways underwent Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, and the downregulation of MGP , the upregulation of EGR1 and Col1a1 , and the increase of IL‐6 were verified. It was also observed that FSH can inhibit the cAMP/PKA and MKK4/JNK signaling pathway. In conclusion, we demonstrated that FSH can increase cartilage inflammatory response and promote chondrocyte dedifferentiation by inhibiting the cAMP/PKA and MKK4/JNK signaling pathways.