LncRNA RMRP knockdown promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis in osteoarthritis chondrocytes by miR-206/CDK9 axis.

Lu, Jian-Feng; Qi, Lian-Gang; Zhu, Xiao-Bo; Shen, Yi-Xin

The etiology of osteoarthritis (OA) has been discussed widely, but the molecular mechanisms beneath OA aggravation have not yet been investigated in detail. This study focused on the role of lncRNA RMRP (RMRP) on OA progression. We found that the expression of RMRP was significantly increased in cartilage tissues of patients with OA. CCK-8 and colony formation assays showed that RMRP knockdown promoted proliferation of chondrocytes treated with IL-1β. Flow cytometry and caspase-3 activity analysis indicated that RMRP silence inhibited apoptosis of chondrocytes treated with IL-1β. Moreover, luciferase reporter, RNA pull-down and RIP assays showed that RMRP competing with miR-206. Additionally, CDK9 acted as a direct target of miR-206. Moreover, rescue assays indicated that miR-206 inhibitor or pcDNA-CDK9 reversed the effects of RMRP suppression on the proliferation and apoptosis of chondrocytes. Taken together, our results indicated that RMRP knockdown could promote proliferation and inhibit apoptosis in OA chondrocytes via the miR-206/CDK9 axis.