Cuicui Wang, Liang Fang, Meng Shi, Xiangfeng Niu, Tiandao Li, Xiaofei Li, Kevin Cho, Yonghua He, Shuang Liu, Aiwu Lu, Xiaoyun Xing, Jessica Lukowski, Young Ah Goo, John R. Speakman, Di Chen, Regis J. O’Keefe, Gary J. Patti, Michael J. Zuscik, Bo Zhang, Jie Shen
{"title":"NFIA regulates articular chondrocyte fatty acid metabolism and joint homeostasis","authors":"Cuicui Wang, Liang Fang, Meng Shi, Xiangfeng Niu, Tiandao Li, Xiaofei Li, Kevin Cho, Yonghua He, Shuang Liu, Aiwu Lu, Xiaoyun Xing, Jessica Lukowski, Young Ah Goo, John R. Speakman, Di Chen, Regis J. O’Keefe, Gary J. Patti, Michael J. Zuscik, Bo Zhang, Jie Shen","doi":"10.1126/scitranslmed.adm9488","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div >Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease with an etiology partially rooted in metabolic dysfunction, yet the underlying mechanisms in this context are not determined, limiting opportunities to develop therapeutic treatments. In this study, we used a multiomic approach combining RNA sequencing, ATAC-seq, MRE-seq, and metabolomics to reveal that OA articular chondrocytes induced by imbalanced transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling have increased fatty acid synthesis and oxidation processes regulated by nuclear factor I A (NFIA) up-regulation. Inhibition of <i>NFIA</i> suppressed the elevated gene expression of essential metabolic enzymes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase A (<i>ACACA</i>) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 2 (<i>CPT2</i>), leading to the restoration of fatty acid metabolism and cellular homeostasis in both murine and human OA articular chondrocytes. Obese mice displayed metabolic stress with elevated expression of NFIA, ACACA, and CPT2 in joint tissues, and they simultaneously developed profound synovitis, cartilage degeneration, subchondral bone sclerosis, and pain after joint injury. Both <i>Nfia</i> inhibition and pharmacological suppression of fatty acid metabolism in obese mice preserved joint integrity and mitigated synovitis and pain in the context of injury-induced OA settings. Overall, this work identifies a role for NFIA in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism and articular chondrocyte homeostasis and highlights fatty acid metabolism as a potential therapeutic target for OA treatment, particularly under obesity conditions.</div>","PeriodicalId":21580,"journal":{"name":"Science Translational Medicine","volume":"17 809","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science Translational Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adm9488","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CELL BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease with an etiology partially rooted in metabolic dysfunction, yet the underlying mechanisms in this context are not determined, limiting opportunities to develop therapeutic treatments. In this study, we used a multiomic approach combining RNA sequencing, ATAC-seq, MRE-seq, and metabolomics to reveal that OA articular chondrocytes induced by imbalanced transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling have increased fatty acid synthesis and oxidation processes regulated by nuclear factor I A (NFIA) up-regulation. Inhibition of NFIA suppressed the elevated gene expression of essential metabolic enzymes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase A (ACACA) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 2 (CPT2), leading to the restoration of fatty acid metabolism and cellular homeostasis in both murine and human OA articular chondrocytes. Obese mice displayed metabolic stress with elevated expression of NFIA, ACACA, and CPT2 in joint tissues, and they simultaneously developed profound synovitis, cartilage degeneration, subchondral bone sclerosis, and pain after joint injury. Both Nfia inhibition and pharmacological suppression of fatty acid metabolism in obese mice preserved joint integrity and mitigated synovitis and pain in the context of injury-induced OA settings. Overall, this work identifies a role for NFIA in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism and articular chondrocyte homeostasis and highlights fatty acid metabolism as a potential therapeutic target for OA treatment, particularly under obesity conditions.
期刊介绍:
Science Translational Medicine is an online journal that focuses on publishing research at the intersection of science, engineering, and medicine. The goal of the journal is to promote human health by providing a platform for researchers from various disciplines to communicate their latest advancements in biomedical, translational, and clinical research.
The journal aims to address the slow translation of scientific knowledge into effective treatments and health measures. It publishes articles that fill the knowledge gaps between preclinical research and medical applications, with a focus on accelerating the translation of knowledge into new ways of preventing, diagnosing, and treating human diseases.
The scope of Science Translational Medicine includes various areas such as cardiovascular disease, immunology/vaccines, metabolism/diabetes/obesity, neuroscience/neurology/psychiatry, cancer, infectious diseases, policy, behavior, bioengineering, chemical genomics/drug discovery, imaging, applied physical sciences, medical nanotechnology, drug delivery, biomarkers, gene therapy/regenerative medicine, toxicology and pharmacokinetics, data mining, cell culture, animal and human studies, medical informatics, and other interdisciplinary approaches to medicine.
The target audience of the journal includes researchers and management in academia, government, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. It is also relevant to physician scientists, regulators, policy makers, investors, business developers, and funding agencies.