Frontiers in Immunology (Feb 2021)

Therapeutic Effects of (5R)-5-Hydroxytriptolide on Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes in Rheumatoid Arthritis via lncRNA WAKMAR2/miR-4478/E2F1/p53 Axis

  • Xinpeng Zhou,
  • Xinpeng Zhou,
  • Xinpeng Zhou,
  • Duoli Xie,
  • Jie Huang,
  • Aiping Lu,
  • Aiping Lu,
  • Aiping Lu,
  • Rongsheng Wang,
  • Rongsheng Wang,
  • Yehua Jin,
  • Yehua Jin,
  • Runrun Zhang,
  • Runrun Zhang,
  • Cen Chang,
  • Cen Chang,
  • Lingxia Xu,
  • Lingxia Xu,
  • Linshuai Xu,
  • Linshuai Xu,
  • Junyu Fan,
  • Chao Liang,
  • Dongyi He,
  • Dongyi He

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.605616
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) serve a major role in synovial hyperplasia and inflammation in RA. (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide (LLDT-8), a novel triptolide derivative, shows promising therapeutic effects for RA and is now in phase II clinical trials in China. However, the underlying mechanism of LLDT-8 is still not fully understood. Here, we found that LLDT-8 inhibited proliferation and invasion of RA FLS, as well as the production of cytokines. Microarray data demonstrated that LLDT-8 upregulated the expression of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) WAKMAR2, which was negatively associated with proliferation and invasion of RA FLS, as well as the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Knockdown of WAKMAR2 abolished the inhibitory effects of LLDT-8 on RA FLS. Mechanistically, WAKMAR2 sponged miR-4478, which targeted E2F1 and downstreamed p53 signaling. Rescue experiments indicated that the inhibitory effects of LLDT-8 on RA FLS were dependent on WAKMAR2/miR-4478/E2F1/p53 axis.

Keywords