Objective: Alpha B-crystallin belongs to the family of small heat-shock proteins (HSPs). The role of this protein family in chondrocytes is not well understood. The present study was undertaken to investigate expression levels of alphaB-crystallin in chondrocytes isolated from healthy subjects and patients with osteoarthritis (OA), and to explore the functional role of this potentially interesting protein in chondrocyte metabolism.
Methods: Western blot and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses were performed to determine expression levels of alphaB-crystallin in healthy and OA chondrocytes cultured in alginate beads. RNA interference-mediated gene knockdown was used to explore the role of this small HSP in chondrocyte biology, by transfecting low concentrations of small interfering RNA (siRNA) in cultured chondrocytes.
Results: We initially identified alphaB-crystallin as a small HSP that was differentially expressed between healthy and OA-affected chondrocytes. The decreased abundance of this protein in OA chondrocytes was confirmed by Western blotting. Moreover, real-time RT-PCR confirmed the differential expression between chondrocytes isolated from visibly intact and visibly damaged zones of OA cartilage. The proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha both down-regulated alphaB-crystallin expression. Transfection of low concentrations of siRNA in cultured chondrocytes resulted in efficient knockdown of alphaB-crystallin gene expression. This was accompanied by altered expression of the chondrocyte-specific bone morphogenetic protein 2, aggrecan, and type II collagen genes.
Conclusion: The present findings identify the small HSP alphaB-crystallin as a novel mediator of chondrocyte matrix gene expression that may contribute to altered chondrocyte metabolism during the development of OA.