Brief research report: Effects of Pinch deficiency on cartilage homeostasis in adult mice

Xiaohao Wu1; Sixiong Lin2; Rongdong Liao3; Qing Yao1; Lijun Lin3; Xuenong Zou2; Guozhi Xiao1

2023-01-19

10.3389/fcell.2023.1116128

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology   Impact Factor & Quartile

2296-634X

Pinch1 and Pinch2 are LIM domain-containing proteins with crucial functions in mediating focal adhesion formation. Our previous studies have demonstrated that Pinch1/2 expression is essential for cartilage and bone formation during skeletal development in mice. Loss of Pinch expression (Prx1(Cre); Pinch1(flox/flox); Pinch2(-/-)) inhibits chondrocyte proliferation and promotes chondrocyte apoptosis, resulting in severe chondrodysplasia and limb shortening. Based on these observations, we wonder if Pinch proteins have a role in adult cartilage and whether Pinch deficiency will compromise cartilage homeostasis and promote osteoarthritis (OA)-related defects in adult mice. To this end, we generated the Aggrecan(CreERT2); Pinch1(flox/flox); Pinch2(-/-) mice, in which the Pinch1 gene can be inducibly deleted in aggrecan-expressing chondrocytes by tamoxifen and the Pinch2 gene is globally inactivated. Immunofluorescent staining confirmed that the expression of Pinch proteins was significantly decreased in articular cartilage in tamoxifen-treated adult Aggrecan(CreERT2); Pinch1(flox/flox); Pinch2(-/-) mice. Unexpectedly, our results showed that Pinch loss did not induce marked abnormalities in articular cartilage and other joint tissues in the knee joints of either adult (10-month-old) mice or aged (17-month-old) mice. In a destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM)-induced OA model, the surgically-induced OA lesions were comparable between Pinch-deficient mice and control mice. Given the fact that Pinch proteins are essential for chondrogenesis and cartilage formation during skeletal development, these findings suggest that Pinch expression is seemingly not indispensable for adult cartilage homeostasis in mice.

Pinch focal adhesion articular cartilage osteoarthritis homeostasis

SCI

English

First ; Corresponding

National Key Research and Development Program of China Grants[2019YFA0906001] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants["82230081","82250710175","82172375","81991513","81870532"] ; Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Council[ZDSYS20140509142721429] ; Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Council Grant[2017B030301018]

Cell Biology ; Developmental Biology

Cell Biology ; Developmental Biology

WOS:000926068100001

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA

Web of Science

1.Department of Biochemistry, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Cell Microenvironment, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Cell Microenvironment and Disease Research, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
2.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Department of Spine Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
3.Department of Orthopaedics, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Xiaohao Wu,Sixiong Lin,Rongdong Liao,et al. Brief research report: Effects of Pinch deficiency on cartilage homeostasis in adult mice[J]. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology,2023,11.

Xiaohao Wu.,Sixiong Lin.,Rongdong Liao.,Qing Yao.,Lijun Lin.,...&Guozhi Xiao.(2023).Brief research report: Effects of Pinch deficiency on cartilage homeostasis in adult mice.Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology,11.

Xiaohao Wu,et al."Brief research report: Effects of Pinch deficiency on cartilage homeostasis in adult mice".Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 11(2023).