Long non-coding RNA LINC00265 promotes proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammation of chondrocytes in osteoarthritis by sponging miR-101-3p

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a part in a wide variety of diseases, including osteoarthritis (OA). This study was designed to investigate the biological role of lncRNA LINC00265 in OA and its underlying mechanisms. We examined the levels of LINC00265 and miR-101-3p using RT-qPCR, inflammatory factors using ELISA, and caspase-3, c-caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax, and MMP-13 levels using Western blot in normal and OA chondrocytes, analysed the relationship between LINC00265 and miR-101-3p using bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assays, performed loss- and gain-of-function analyses. The results showed that (1) LINC00265 expression was increased in OA chondrocytes, (2) si-LINC00265 inhibited OA chondrocyte apoptosis and inflammation, and (3) LINC00265 overexpression promoted normal and OA chondrocyte apoptosis and inflammation. Furthermore, we predicted and confirmed that miR-101-3p was a target of LINC00265. LINC00265 negatively regulated miR-101-3p in OA chondrocytes and LINC00265 promoted OA and normal chondrocyte apoptosis via miR-101-3p. Overall, lncRNA LINC00265 regulates chondrocyte apoptosis by acting as a sponge of miR-101-3p in OA.

Keywords:

• LncRNA LINC00265
• miR-101-3p
• osteoarthritis
• chondrocyte
• apoptosis

Author contributions

Hanlin Zou, Jianjun Qiu: study concepts, literature research, clinical studies, data analysis, experimental studies, manuscript writing, and review; Chunde Lu, Jianjun Qiu: study design, literature research, experimental studies, and manuscript editing; Hanlin Zou, Jianjun Qiu: definition of intellectual content, clinical studies, data acquisition, and statistical analysis; Chunde Lu, Jianjun Qiu: data acquisition, manuscript preparation, and data analysis. All authors have read and approved the submission of the manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

All authors have no conflicts of interest and declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants but are available on request from the corresponding author.