iScience (Oct 2023)

ALKBH5-mediated m6A demethylation of HS3ST3B1-IT1 prevents osteoarthritis progression

  • Yuting Tang,
  • Yang Liu,
  • Xiaoshu Zhu,
  • Yanlin Chen,
  • Xinluan Jiang,
  • Siyang Ding,
  • Que Zheng,
  • Ming Zhang,
  • Jiashu Yang,
  • Yunfei Ma,
  • Mengying Xing,
  • Zongyu Zhang,
  • Huimin Ding,
  • Yucui Jin,
  • Changyan Ma

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 10
p. 107838

Abstract

Read online

Summary: HS3ST3B1-IT1 was identified as a downregulated long noncoding RNA in osteoarthritic cartilage. However, its roles and mechanisms in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) are unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that the expressions of HS3ST3B1-IT1 and its maternal gene HS3ST3B1 were downregulated and positively correlated in osteoarthritic cartilage. Overexpression of HS3ST3B1-IT1 significantly increased chondrocyte viability, inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis, and upregulated extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, whereas HS3ST3B1-IT1 knockdown had the opposite effects. In addition, HS3ST3B1-IT1 significantly ameliorated monosodium-iodoacetate-induced OA in vivo. Mechanistically, HS3ST3B1-IT1 upregulated HS3ST3B1 expression by blocking its ubiquitination-mediated degradation. Knockdown of HS3ST3B1 reversed the effects of HS3ST3B1-IT1 on chondrocyte viability, apoptosis, and ECM metabolism. AlkB homolog 5 (ALKBH5)-mediated N6-methyladenosine (m6A) demethylation stabilized HS3ST3B1-IT1 RNA. Together, our data revealed that ALKBH5-mediated upregulation of HS3ST3B1-IT1 suppressed OA progression by elevating HS3ST3B1 expression, suggesting that HS3ST3B1-IT1/HS3ST3B1 may serve as potential therapeutic targets for OA treatment.

Keywords