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Saponin-rich fraction from Clematis chinensis Osbeck roots protects rabbit chondrocytes against nitric oxide-induced apoptosis via preventing mitochondria impairment and caspase-3 activation

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Abstract

Our previous study reported that the saponin-rich fraction from Clematis chinensis Osbeck roots (SFC) could effectively alleviate experimental osteoarthritis induced by monosodium iodoacetate in rats through protecting articular cartilage and inhibiting local inflammation. The present study was performed to investigate the preventive effects of SFC on articular chondrocyte, and explore the underlying mechanisms. Primary rabbit chondrocytes were cultured and exposed to sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a NO donor. After treatment with different concentrations of SFC (30, 100, 300, 1,000 μg/ml) for 24 h, nucleic morphology, apoptotic rate, mitochondrial function and caspase-3 activity of chondrocytes were examined. The results showed that SNP induced remarkable apoptosis of rabbit chondrocytes evidenced by Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry analysis, and SFC prevented the apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Further studies indicated that SFC could prevent the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (∆ψm) in SNP-treated chondrocytes and suppress the activation of caspase-3. It can be concluded that the protection of SFC on articular chondrocytes is associated with the anti-apoptosis effects via inhibiting the mitochondrion impairment and caspase-3 activation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing, 210009, China

    Wenjun Wu, Xinghua Gao, Xianxiang Xu, Yubin Luo, Mei Liu & Yue Dai

  2. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Chinese Materia Medica Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tong Jia Xiang, Nanjing, 210009, China

    Yufeng Xia

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  1. Wenjun Wu
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  2. Xinghua Gao
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Correspondence to Yue Dai.

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The authors Wenjun Wu and Xinghua Gao equally contributed to this paper.

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Wu, W., Gao, X., Xu, X. et al. Saponin-rich fraction from Clematis chinensis Osbeck roots protects rabbit chondrocytes against nitric oxide-induced apoptosis via preventing mitochondria impairment and caspase-3 activation. Cytotechnology 65, 287–295 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10616-012-9485-7

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