Activation And Significance Of The Wnt Signaling Pathway In Articullar Cartilage Of Human Primary Osteoarthritis

Objective To investigate the role of wnt signaling pathway in the pathogenesis ofosteoarthritis.Methods40cartilage specimens were collected from adult knee primary OA patientsundergoing total knee arthroplasty and10cartilage specimens from adult patients sufferingfrom amputation and femoral condylar fracture.The decalcified paraffin-embedded sectionswere prepared and stained with fast green-safranin O to observe the degeneration of cartilage,Referring modified Mankin score standard, No degeneration group10cases, Moderatedegenerative group,18cases, Severe degeneration group22cases. Western Blot testmethods were used to detect the expression of β-catenin, TCF-4, JNK, c-jun in each group;RT-PCR methods were used to detect the mRNA expression of β-catenin, TCF-4, JNK,c-jun、MMP-13、BMP-2in each group；the expression of β-catenin and JNK in cartilagetissues was detected by the Immunohistochemistry staining.Results Immunohistochemical staining results:The β-catenin and JNK did notexpressed or less in no degeneration group; but it expressed in the degenerative cartilage,the expression was significantly higher in the moderate to severe degenerative cartilage thanin mild degenerative cartilage. The expression of β-catenin and JNK are mainly in the nucleusand JNK mainly expressed in the cytoplasm. Western blot and Real time PCR results:β-catenin,、TCF-4、JNK、c-jun、MMP-13、BMP-2was significantly higher in the moderateto severe degenerative cartilage than in mild degenerative cartilage. Conclusions wnt/β-catenin and wnt/JNK signaling pathway are involved in theformation and development of osteoarthritis.