Quadruped Gait and Regulation of Apoptotic Factors in Tibiofemoral Joints following Intra-Articular rhPRG4 Injection in Prg4 Null Mice

Authors

Daniel S. Yang, Brown UniversityFollow
Edward E. Dickerson, North Carolina Agricultural Technical State UniversityFollow
Ling X. Zhang, Brown UniversityFollow
Holly Richendrfer, Brown UniversityFollow
Padmini N. Karamchedu, Brown UniversityFollow
Gary A. Badger, University of VermontFollow
Tannin A. Schmidt, University of ConnecticutFollow
Alger M. Fredericks, Brown UniversityFollow
Khaled A. Elsaid, Chapman UniversityFollow
Gregory D. Jay, Brown UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-12-2022

Abstract

Camptodactyly-arthropathy-coxa vara-pericarditis (CACP) syndrome leads to diarthrodial joint arthropathy and is caused by the absence of lubricin (proteoglycan 4—PRG4), a surface-active mucinous glycoprotein responsible for lubricating articular cartilage. In this study, mice lacking the orthologous gene Prg4 served as a model that recapitulates the destructive arthrosis that involves biofouling of cartilage by serum proteins in lieu of Prg4. This study hypothesized that Prg4-deficient mice would demonstrate a quadruped gait change and decreased markers of mitochondrial dyscrasia, following intra-articular injection of both hindlimbs with recombinant human PRG4 (rhPRG4). Prg4^−/− (N = 44) mice of both sexes were injected with rhPRG4 and gait alterations were studied at post-injection day 3 and 6, before joints were harvested for immunohistochemistry for caspase-3 activation. Increased stance and propulsion was shown at 3 days post-injection in male mice. There were significantly fewer caspase-3-positive chondrocytes in tibiofemoral cartilage from rhPRG4-injected mice. The mitochondrial gene Mt-tn, and myosin heavy (Myh7) and light chains (Myl2 and Myl3), known to play a cytoskeletal stabilizing role, were significantly upregulated in both sexes (RNA-Seq) following IA rhPRG4. Chondrocyte mitochondrial dyscrasias attributable to the arthrosis in CACP may be mitigated by IA rhPRG4. In a supporting in vitro crystal microbalance experiment, molecular fouling by albumin did not block the surface activity of rhPRG4.

Comments

This article was originally published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences, volume 23, in 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23084245

Recommended Citation

Yang, D.S.; Dickerson, E.E.; Zhang, L.X.; Richendrfer, H.; Karamchedu, P.N.; Badger, G.J.; Schmidt, T.A.; Fredericks, A.M.; Elsaid, K.A.; Jay, G.D. Quadruped Gait and Regulation of Apoptotic Factors in Tibiofemoral Joints following Intra-Articular rhPRG4 Injection in Prg4 Null Mice. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 4245. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23084245

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.