Related Experiment Videos
Reduced apoptosis correlates with enhanced autophagy in synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis
Ke Xu1, Peng Xu, Jian-Feng Yao
1Department of Joint Surgery, Hong Hui Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an 710054, China.
Objective:
Defective apoptosis contributes to the massive synovial hyperplasia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the mechanism is largely unknown. To investigate the reasons for the reduced apoptosis in RA synovium, we analyzed autophagy and its relationship to apoptosis in synovial tissues from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients.
Methods:
Synovial tissues were obtained from seven RA and 12 OA patients undergoing knee replacement surgery. Apoptosis was detected by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and staining for p85 fragment of PolyADP-ribose polymerase (PARP). Autophagy was determined by immunoblotting for the autophagic markers Beclin-1 and LC3. MicroRNA-30a (miR-30a), which targets Beclin-1, was measured by real-time RT-PCR. The interplay between autophagy and apoptosis was determined via Spearman's correlation analysis.
Results:
In comparison with OA, the synovial tissues from RA displayed decreased TUNEL-positive nuclei (P < 0.01). In contrast, Beclin-1 and LC3 were overexpressed in the synovial lining layers of RA, which was correlated with decreased levels of miR-30a. Moreover, there was a significant reverse relationship between apoptosis and autophagy in RA synovial tissues (P < 0.01 and r = -0.8937).
Conclusion:
The impaired apoptosis in RA synovium might result from increased autophagy, which in turn could be due to the deregulation of miRNA-30a.
Related Concept Videos
The JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway
Apoptosis
Autophagic Cell Death
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and pro-apoptotic...
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Autophagy
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
T Cell Types and Functions
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...