Vol.21 No.1

Original Article

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 is expressed in rheumatoid synovium and regulates synovial fibroblast proliferation

Authors

Noriyuki Sakurai1 , Takashi Kuroiwa1 , Ken Kayakabe1 , Takayuki Matsumoto1 , Akito Maeshima1 , Keiju Hiromura1 , Yoshihisa Nojima1

  • Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine
Received:

22 June 2010

Accepted:

13 August 2010

Published online:

4 September 2010

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Abstract

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 (IGFBP-rP1) is a secretory protein that shares a structural similarity with IGFBP. Studies have shown that IGFBP-rP1 synergistically increases fibroblast growth with insulin and stimulates angiogenesis in tumor tissues. In this report, we examined the expression and function of IGFBP-rP1 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IGFBP-rP1 expression in synovial tissues was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR, and immunohistochemical analysis. In vitro, IGFBP-rP1 expression was examined in synovial fibroblasts established from rheumatoid synovium (RASFs) by RT-PCR, Western blot, and immunostaining. The effect of IGFBP-rP1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) on RASF proliferation was assessed by alamarBlue assay. IGFBP-rP1 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in all synovial tissues from RA and OA patients. In immunohistochemical analysis, IGFBP-rP1 was mainly expressed in synovial cells in the lining layers and endothelial cells in the sublining layers of RA synovium. In vitro, constitutive expression of IGFBP-rP1 in RASFs was detected by RT-PCR, Western blot, and immunostaining. Treatment with IGFBP-rP1 siRNA induced a 26% decrease in RASF growth compared to control siRNA. A similar extent of growth-suppressive effect by IGFBP-rP1 siRNA was also observed when RASF proliferation was induced by TNF-α. Collectively, these data suggest that IGFBP-rP1 may regulate synovial fibroblast proliferation in RA.

Key words

Rheumatoid arthritis - Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 1 (IGFBP-rP1) - IGFBP - Synovial fibroblasts