Secretion of inflammatory factors from chondrocytes by layilin signaling

Layilin (LAYN) is thought to be involved in reorganization of cytoskeleton structures, interacting with merlin, radixin, and talin. Also, LAYN is known to be one of the receptors for hyaluronic acid (HA). In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) have been known to play pathological roles. HA with low molecular weight is speculated to exacerbate inflammation in RA. In this context, differences of quantity and functions of HA receptors would affect the severity of inflammation in RA. Chondrocytes, which play critical roles in maintaining articular cartilage and are affected in RA, express at least kinds of HA receptors like CD44 and LAYN. However, roles and regulation of LAYN in articular chondrocytes have been poorly understood. To clarify regulation of LAYN in chondrocytes, we here investigated whether TNF-α affected expression levels of LAYN in human articular chondrocytes. Next, to clarify LAYN-specific roles in chondrocytes, we investigated whether binding of antibodies to the extracellular domain of LAYN affected secretion of inflammatory cytokines using a chondrosarcoma cell line. As a result, we found that TNF-α up-regulated expression levels of LAYN in the chondrocytes. Further, the LAYN signaling was found to enhance secretion of inflammatory factors, IL-8 and complement5 (C5)/C5a, from the cells. Our results indicate that LAYN would be involved in the enhancement of inflammation and degradation of cartilage in joint diseases such as RA and OA.