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MicroRNAs and Regulation of Autophagy in Chondrocytes

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Chondrocytes

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2245))

Abstract

Chondrocytes are the main cells responsible for the maintenance of cartilage homeostasis and integrity. During development, extracellular matrix (ECM) macromolecules are produced and deposited by chondrocyte precursors. Autophagy, a highly dynamic process aimed at degradation of dysfunctional or pathogenic proteins, organelles, and intracellular microbes that can damage tissues, is one of the key processes required for sustained cartilage homeostasis. In different cell types it has been shown that, among others, autophagy is regulated by epigenetic mechanisms such as small noncoding RNAs (miRNAs, ~22 base pairs). Increasing evidence suggests that miRNAs are also involved in the regulation of autophagy in chondrocytes. Based on our previous research of gene and miRNA expression in articular cartilage, in this chapter we provide a summary of the tools models to direct in vitro and in vivo studies aimed at gaining a better understanding of the regulatory roles of miRNAs in chondrocyte autophagy.

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Acknowledgments

YFMR acknowledges the Foundation for Research in Rheumatology (FOREUM), BBMRI-NL Complementation project (CP2013-83), Ana Fonds (O2015-27), and Dutch Scientific Research Council NWO/ZonMW VICI scheme (nr 91816631/528) for financially supporting our work. The Leiden University Medical Center supports the RAAK study. We thank all study participants of the RAAK study. We are also grateful to all members of the Meulenbelt lab at the LUMC for valuable discussion, especially Dr. Coutinho de Almeida for expert suggestions with respect to Next Generation Sequencing analysis. AM wishes to acknowledge financial support from The European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (EU FP7; HEALTH.2012.2.4.5-2, project number 305815 and Novel Diagnostics and Biomarkers for Early Identification of Chronic Inflammatory Joint Diseases). Details of the D-BOARD FP7 Consortium are available at: http://www.d-board.eu. The Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No. 115770, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework programme (FP7/2007-2013), EFPIA companies’ in-kind contribution. Details of the APPROACH IMI Consortium are available at: https://www.approachproject.eu. Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development grant (project number 625746; acronym: CHONDRION; FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF). The European Structural and Social Funds through the Research Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos Mokslo Taryba) according to the activity “Improvement of researchers’ qualification by implementing world-class R&D projects” of Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712 (grant application code: 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0157, agreement No. DOTSUT-215). The European Structural and Social Funds through the Research Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos Mokslo Taryba) according to the Programme “Attracting Foreign Researchers for Research Implementation,” Grant No 0.2.2-LMTK-718-02-0022.

Author disclosures: YFMR has nothing to disclose. AM has consulted for the following companies in the last 3 years: Abbvie, Aché Laboratórios Farmacêuticos S.A., Galapagos, Kolon TissueGene, Pfizer Consumer Health (PCH), Servier, Bioiberica S.A., and Artialis S.A.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Section Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Yolande F. M. Ramos

  2. Department of Regenerative Medicine, State Research Institute Centre for Innovative Medicine, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Ali Mobasheri

  3. Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Ali Mobasheri

  4. Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis Research Versus Arthritis, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK

    Ali Mobasheri

  5. Departments of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Ali Mobasheri

Authors
  1. Yolande F. M. Ramos
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  2. Ali Mobasheri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yolande F. M. Ramos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA

    Tariq M. Haqqi

  2. Department of Surgery, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Véronique Lefebvre

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Ramos, Y.F.M., Mobasheri, A. (2021). MicroRNAs and Regulation of Autophagy in Chondrocytes. In: Haqqi, T.M., Lefebvre, V. (eds) Chondrocytes. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2245. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1119-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1119-7_13

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1118-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1119-7

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