Upregulation of miR-23b enhances the autologous therapeutic potential for degenerative arthritis by targeting PRKACB in synovial fluid-derived mesenchymal stem cells from patients

The use of synovial fluid-derived mesenchymal stem cells(SFMSCs) obtained from patients with degenerativearthropathy may serve as an alternative therapeuticstrategy in osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis(RA). For treatment of OA and RA patients, autologoustransplantation of differentiated MSCs has several beneficialeffects for cartilage regeneration including immunomodulatoryactivity. In this study, we induced chondrogenicdifferentiation of SFMSCs by inhibiting proteinkinase A (PKA) with a small molecule and microRNA(miRNA). Chondrogenic differentiation was confirmed by PCR and immunocytochemistry using probes specific foraggrecan, the major cartilaginous proteoglycan gene.Absorbance of alcian blue stain to detect chondrogenicdifferentiation was increased in H-89 and/or miRNA- 23btransfectedcells. Furthermore, expression of matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)-9 and MMP-2 was decreased in treated1cells. Therefore, differentiation of SFMSCs into chondrocytesthrough inhibition of PKA signaling may be atherapeutic option for OA or RA patients.