Department of Spine Surgery, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Front Immunol. 2024 Aug 16;15:1427970. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1427970. eCollection 2024.
Hypertrophy of ligamentum flavum (LF) is a significant contributing factor to lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS). lncRNA plays a vital role in organ fibrosis, but its role in LF fibrosis remains unclear. Our previous findings have demonstrated that Hedgehog-Gli1 signaling is a critical driver leading to LF hypertrophy. Through the RIP experiment, our group found lnc-RMRP was physically associated with Gli1 and exhibited enrichment in Gli1-activated LF cells. Histological studies revealed elevated expression of RMRP in hypertrophic LF. experiments further confirmed that RMRP promoted Gli1 SUMO modification and nucleus transfer. Mechanistically, RMRP induced GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis, proinflammatory activation, and collagen expression through the Hedgehog pathway. Notably, the mechanical stress-induced hypertrophy of LF in rabbit exhibited analogous pathological changes of LF fibrosis occurred in human and showed enhanced levels of collagen and α-SMA. Knockdown of RMRP resulted in the decreased expression of fibrosis and pyroptosis-related proteins, ultimately ameliorating fibrosis. The above data concluded that RMRP exerts a crucial role in regulating GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis of LF cells via Gli1 SUMOylation, thus indicating that targeting RMRP could serve as a potential and effective therapeutic strategy for LF hypertrophy and fibrosis.
黄韧带肥厚(LF)是腰椎管狭窄症(LSCS)的重要致病因素。长链非编码 RNA(lncRNA)在器官纤维化中起着至关重要的作用,但它在 LF 纤维化中的作用尚不清楚。我们之前的研究结果表明 Hedgehog-Gli1 信号通路是导致 LF 肥厚的关键驱动因素。通过 RIP 实验,我们发现 lnc-RMRP 与 Gli1 具有物理关联,并在 Gli1 激活的 LF 细胞中富集。组织学研究显示,RMRP 在肥厚的 LF 中表达升高。进一步的 实验证实,RMRP 促进了 Gli1 SUMO 修饰和核转移。在机制上,RMRP 通过 Hedgehog 通路诱导 GSDMD 介导的细胞焦亡、促炎激活和胶原表达。值得注意的是,兔 LF 的机械应力诱导性肥厚表现出与人类 LF 纤维化相似的病理变化,胶原和 α-SMA 的水平也明显升高。RMRP 的敲低导致纤维化和细胞焦亡相关蛋白的表达减少,最终改善了纤维化。上述数据表明,RMRP 通过 Gli1 SUMO 化在调节 LF 细胞 GSDMD 介导的细胞焦亡中发挥关键作用,提示靶向 RMRP 可能是 LF 肥厚和纤维化的一种有潜力和有效的治疗策略。
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