Ancient origin of lubricated joints in bony vertebrates

eLife

Craig T Miller¹  Nicholas A Ellis¹  Joanna Smeeton¹  Simone Schindler¹  Sandeep Paul²  Ingo Braasch²  John Postlethwait²  Amjad Askary²  J Gage Crump³ 

[1] Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States;Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States;Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, United States;

关键词: synovial joint;    prg4;    articular cartilage;    stickleback;    spotted gar;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.16415

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Synovial joints are the lubricated connections between the bones of our body that are commonly affected in arthritis. It is assumed that synovial joints first evolved as vertebrates came to land, with ray-finned fishes lacking lubricated joints. Here, we examine the expression and function of a critical lubricating protein of mammalian synovial joints, Prg4/Lubricin, in diverse ray-finned fishes. We find that Prg4 homologs are specifically enriched at the jaw and pectoral fin joints of zebrafish, stickleback, and gar, with genetic deletion of the zebrafish prg4b gene resulting in the same age-related degeneration of joints as seen in lubricin-deficient mice and humans. Our data support lubricated synovial joints evolving much earlier than currently accepted, at least in the common ancestor of all bony vertebrates. Establishment of the first arthritis model in the highly regenerative zebrafish will offer unique opportunities to understand the aetiology and possible treatment of synovial joint disease.

【 授权许可】

Unknown