Endogenous production of hyaluronan, PRG4, and cytokines is sensitive to cyclic loading in synoviocytes

Synovial fluid is composed of hyaluronan and proteoglycan-4 (PRG4 or lubricin), which work synergistically to maintain joint lubrication. In diseases like osteoarthritis, hyaluronan and PRG4 concentrations can be altered, resulting in lowered synovial fluid viscosity, and pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations within the synovial fluid increase. Synovial fibroblasts within the synovium are responsible for contributing to synovial fluid and can be targeted to improve endogenous production of hyaluronan and PRG4 and to alter the cytokine profile. We cyclically loaded SW982 synoviocytes to 0%, 5%, 10%, or 20% strain for three hours at 1 Hz. To assess the impact of substrate stiffness, we compared the 0% strain group to cells grown on tissue culture plastic. We measured the expression of hyaluronan turnover genes, hyaluronan localization within the cell layer, hyaluronan concentration, PRG4 concentration, and the cytokine profile within the media. Our results show that the addition of cyclic loading increased HAS3 expression, but not in a magnitude-dependent response. Hyaluronidase expression was impacted by strain magnitude, which is exemplified by the decrease in hyaluronan concentration due to cyclic loading. We also show that PRG4 concentration is increased at 5% strain, while higher strain magnitude decreases overall PRG4 concentration. Finally, 10% and 20% strain show a distinct, more pro-inflammatory cytokine profile when compared to the unloaded group. Multivariate analysis showed distinct separation between certain strain groups in being able to predict strain group, hyaluronan concentration, and PRG4 concentration from gene expression or cytokine concentration data, highlighting the complexity of the system. Overall, this study shows that cyclic loading can be used tool to modulate the endogenous production of hyaluronan, PRG4, and cytokines from synovial fibroblasts.