benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl-fluoromethyl-ketone and Osteoarthritis

A number of in vitro models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) have been developed to study the effect of mechanical overload on the processes that regulate cartilage degeneration. While such frameworks are critical for the identification therapeutic targets, existing technologies are limited in their throughput capacity. Here, we validate a test platform for high-throughput mechanical injury incorporating engineered cartilage.. We utilized a high-throughput mechanical testing platform to apply injurious compression to engineered cartilage and determined their strain and strain rate dependent responses to injury. Next, we validated this response by applying the same injury conditions to cartilage explants. Finally, we conducted a pilot screen of putative PTOA therapeutic compounds.. Engineered cartilage response to injury was strain dependent, with a 2-fold increase in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) loss at 75% compared to 50% strain. Extensive cell death was observed adjacent to fissures, with membrane rupture corroborated by marked increases in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Testing of established PTOA therapeutics showed that pan-caspase inhibitor [Z-VAD-FMK (ZVF)] was effective at reducing cell death, while the amphiphilic polymer [Poloxamer 188 (P188)] and the free-radical scavenger [N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC)] reduced GAG loss as compared to injury alone.. The injury response in this engineered cartilage model replicated key features of the response of cartilage explants, validating this system for application of physiologically relevant injurious compression. This study establishes a novel tool for the discovery of mechanisms governing cartilage injury, as well as a screening platform for the identification of new molecules for the treatment of PTOA.

Topics: Acetylcysteine; Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; Animals; Cartilage, Articular; Caspase Inhibitors; Cattle; Cell Death; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Glycosaminoglycans; High-Throughput Screening Assays; Materials Testing; Osteoarthritis; Pilot Projects; Poloxamer; Stress, Mechanical; Tissue Engineering

To examine the therapeutic efficacy of caspase inhibitors in experimental osteoarthritis (OA).. Experimental OA was induced in rabbits by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT). Rabbits were treated with intraarticular (i.a.) injections of caspase inhibitors 3 times per week starting 1 week postoperatively. Animals were killed 9 weeks after ACLT, for macroscopic, histologic, and immunohistochemical assessment of the knee joints.. I.a. administration of the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK significantly reduced cartilage degradation, as assessed by macroscopic and microscopic criteria. Untreated knees showed large numbers of chondrocytes with active caspase 3 and the p85 fragment of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP p85) that is generated during apoptosis. The frequency of cells positive for PARP p85 and active caspase 3 was reduced in Z-VAD-FMK-treated knees. Inhibitors specific for caspase 3 or caspase 8 showed no significant efficacy. Caspase 1 inhibitor and the combination of caspase 3 and caspase 8 inhibitors reduced OA pathology.. These results provide direct support for a role of cell death in OA pathogenesis. Caspase inhibitors reduced the severity of cartilage lesions in experimental OA, suggesting that they may have disease-modifying activity in human OA.

Topics: Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; Animals; Cartilage, Articular; Caspase 3; Caspase Inhibitors; Caspases; Cell Death; Chondrocytes; Immunohistochemistry; Osteoarthritis; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; Rabbits

The regulation of proliferation and cell death is vital for homeostasis, but the mechanism that coordinately balances these events in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains largely unknown. In RA, the synovial lining thickens in part through increased proliferation and/or decreased synovial fibroblast cell death. Here we demonstrate that the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2, is highly expressed in RA compared with osteoarthritis synovial tissues, particularly in the CD68-negative, fibroblast-like synoviocyte population. To determine the importance of endogenous Bcl-2, an adenoviral vector expressing a hammerhead ribozyme to Bcl-2 (Ad-Rbz-Bcl-2) mRNA was employed. Ad-Rbz-Bcl-2 infection resulted in reduced Bcl-2 expression and cell viability in synovial fibroblasts isolated from RA and osteoarthritis synovial tissues. In addition, Ad-Rbz-Bcl-2-induced mitochondrial permeability transition, cytochrome c release, activation of caspases 9 and 3, and DNA fragmentation. The general caspase inhibitor zVAD.fmk blocked caspase activation, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, and DNA fragmentation, but not loss of transmembrane potential or viability, indicating that cell death was independent of caspase activation. Ectopically expressed Bcl-xL inhibited Ad-Rbz-Bcl-2-induced mitochondrial permeability transition and apoptosis in Ad-Rbz-Bcl-2-transduced cells. Thus, forced down-regulation of Bcl-2 does not induce a compensatory mechanism to prevent loss of mitochondrial integrity and cell death in human fibroblasts.

Topics: Adenoviruses, Human; Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; Apoptosis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; bcl-X Protein; Caspase 3; Caspase Inhibitors; Cell Count; Cell Survival; Cells, Cultured; Down-Regulation; Enzyme Activation; Fibroblasts; Genetic Vectors; Homeostasis; Humans; Intracellular Membranes; Mitochondria; Osteoarthritis; Permeability; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; RNA, Catalytic; Synovial Membrane

Caspases have been strongly implicated to play an essential role in apoptosis. A critical question regarding the role(s) of these proteases is whether selective inhibition of an effector caspase(s) will prevent cell death. We have identified potent and selective non-peptide inhibitors of the effector caspases 3 and 7. The inhibition of apoptosis and maintenance of cell functionality with a caspase 3/7-selective inhibitor is demonstrated for the first time, and suggests that targeting these two caspases alone is sufficient for blocking apoptosis. Furthermore, an x-ray co-crystal structure of the complex between recombinant human caspase 3 and an isatin sulfonamide inhibitor has been solved to 2.8-A resolution. In contrast to previously reported peptide-based caspase inhibitors, the isatin sulfonamides derive their selectivity for caspases 3 and 7 by interacting primarily with the S(2) subsite, and do not bind in the caspase primary aspartic acid binding pocket (S(1)). These inhibitors blocked apoptosis in murine bone marrow neutrophils and human chondrocytes. Furthermore, in camptothecin-induced chondrocyte apoptosis, cell functionality as measured by type II collagen promoter activity is maintained, an activity considered essential for cartilage homeostasis. These data suggest that inhibiting chondrocyte cell death with a caspase 3/7-selective inhibitor may provide a novel therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis, or other disease states characterized by excessive apoptosis.

Topics: Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; Animals; Apoptosis; Binding Sites; Camptothecin; Caspase 3; Caspase 7; Caspase Inhibitors; Chondrocytes; Collagen; Crystallography, X-Ray; Enzyme Inhibitors; Humans; Isatin; Mice; Models, Molecular; Molecular Structure; Neutrophils; Osteoarthritis; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Recombinant Proteins; Sulfonamides