Abstract
Cartilage loss leads to osteoarthritis, the most common cause of disability for which there is no cure. Cartilage regeneration, therefore, is a priority in medicine. We report that agrin is a potent chondrogenic factor and that a single intraarticular administration of agrin induced long-lasting regeneration of critical-size osteochondral defects in mice, with restoration of tissue architecture and bone-cartilage interface. Agrin attracted joint resident progenitor cells to the site of injury and, through simultaneous activation of CREB and suppression of canonical WNT signaling downstream of β-catenin, induced expression of the chondrogenic stem cell marker GDF5 and differentiation into stable articular chondrocytes, forming stable articular cartilage. In sheep, an agrin-containing collagen gel resulted in long-lasting regeneration of bone and cartilage, which promoted increased ambulatory activity. Our findings support the therapeutic use of agrin for joint surface regeneration.
Original language | English |
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Article number | eaax9086 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Science translational medicine |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 559 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2 Sept 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Acknowledgments: We thank Prof. F. Luyten and Prof. C. Hartman for the critical reading of this manuscript. The authors thank Technical Staff in the ARM Lab and Staff at the University of Aberdeen’s Animal Facility and Microscopy & Histology Facility for their support.Funding: We gratefully acknowledge funding support of this work by the MRC (MR/L022893/1, MR/N010973/1, MR/P026362/1), Versus Arthritis (19667, 21515, 20886, 21621), Rosetrees Trust (A1205), the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Trust and the William Harvey Research Foundation.
Keywords
- AMP RESPONSE ELEMENT
- ARTICULAR-CARTILAGE
- SYNOVIAL JOINT
- GENE-EXPRESSION
- STEM-CELLS
- TGF-BETA
- OSTEOARTHRITIS
- PROTEIN
- LRP4
- MAINTENANCE
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Anke Roelofs
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Medical Sciences - Senior Lecturer
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, MRC/Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Molecular and Cellular Function
- Institute of Medical Sciences
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Aberdeen Centre for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health (ACAMH)
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Microscopy and Histology
Debbie Wilkinson (Manager) & Gillian Milne (Manager)
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