Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 16 pp 16211—16223
Mst1 promotes mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in oxidative stress-induced rheumatoid arthritis synoviocytes
- 1 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing 100730, China
- 2 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, First Hospital of Harbin, Harbin 150010, China
- 3 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100730, China
Received: February 19, 2020 Accepted: June 19, 2020 Published: July 21, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103643How to Cite
Copyright © 2020 Wang et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the role of macrophage stimulating 1 (Mst1) and the AMPK-Sirt1 signaling pathway in the oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis seen in rheumatoid arthritis-related fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RA-FLSs). Mst1 mRNA and protein expression was significantly higher in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-treated RA-FLSs than untreated controls. H2O2 treatment induced the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway by activating caspase3/9 and Bax in the RA-FLSs. Moreover, H2O2 treatment significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial state-3 and state-4 respiration, but increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mst1 silencing significantly reduced oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in RA-FLSs. Sirt1 expression was significantly reduced in the H2O2-treated RA-FLSs, but was higher in the H2O2-treated Mst1-silenced RA-FLSs. Pretreatment with selisistat (Sirt1-specific inhibitor) or compound C (AMPK antagonist) significantly reduced the viability and mitochondrial function in H2O2-treated Mst1-silenced RA-FLSs by inhibiting Sirt1 function or Sirt1 expression, respectively. These findings demonstrate that oxidative stress-related upregulation and activation of Mst1 promotes mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in RA-FLSs by inhibiting the AMPK-Sirt1 signaling pathway. This suggests the Mst1-AMPK-Sirt1 axis is a potential target for RA therapy.