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Oral Citrate Supplementation Mitigates Age-Associated Pathological Intervertebral Disc Calcification in LG/J Mice

ABSTRACT: Despite the high prevalence of age-dependent intervertebral disc calcification, there is a glaring lack of treatment options for this debilitating pathology. Here, we investigate the efficacy of long-term oral K3Citrate supplementation in ameliorating disc calcification in LG/J mice, a model of spontaneous age-associated disc calcification. K3Citrate successfully reduced the incidence of disc calcification in LG/J mice without deleterious effects on vertebral bone structure, plasma chemistry, and locomotion. Notably, a positive effect on grip strength, a marker of frailty, was evident in treated mice. Spectroscopic investigation of the persisting calcified nodules indicated K3Citrate did not alter the mineral composition, and collagen 10 and aggrecan staining revealed that reactivation of an endochondral differentiation program in endplates may drive LG/J disc calcification. Importantly, K3Citrate reduced calcification incidence without altering the abundance of endplate hypertrophic chondrocytes, suggesting mitigation of disc calcification through Ca2+ chelation. This was further supported by the inability of K3Citrate to inhibit hypertrophic differentiation of chondrogenic ATDC5 cells and minimal effects on their metabolic status. Overall, this study sheds light on the pathogenesis of intervertebral disc calcification in LG/J mice and underscores the therapeutic potential of K3Citrate as a systemic intervention strategy for disc calcification.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE270561 | GEO | 2024/08/16

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Ectopic calcification in synovial tissues is devastating to diarthrodial joints. While some forms of synovial ectopic calcification have genetically simple basis, most cases manifest as complex traits with environmental and multigenic components. The location of causal loci or the physiological processes affected by allelic variants is poorly understood. Here, we report on genetic susceptibility to ectopic calcification in the LG/J and SM/J advanced intercross mice. Using 347 mice in 98 full-sibships, destabilization of medial meniscus was performed to induce joint injury. We performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to map calcification phenotypes to discrete genomic locations. To validate the functional significance of the selected QTL candidate genes, we compared mRNA expression between parental LG/J and SM/J inbred strains. Our findings showed that joint destabilization instigated ectopic calcifications as detected and quantified by micro-CT. Overall, we detected 20 QTLs affecting synovial and meniscus calcification phenotypes with 11 QTLs linked to synovial calcification. Functional and bioinformatic analyses of single nucleotide polymorphism identified functional classifications relevant to angiogenesis (Myo1e, Kif26b, Nprl3, Stab2, Fam105b), bone metabolism/calcification (Tle3, Tgfb2, Lipc, Nfe2l1, Ank, Fam105b), arthritis (Stab2, Tbx21, Map4k4, Hoxb9, Larp6, Col1a2, Adam10, Timp3, Nfe2l1, Trpm3), and ankylosing-spondylitis (Ank, Pon1, Il1r2, Tbkbp1) indicating that ectopic calcification involves multiple mechanisms. Furthermore, the expression of 11 candidate genes was significantly different between LG/J and SM/J. Correlation analysis showed that Aff3, Fam81a, Syn3, and Ank were correlated with synovial calcification. Our findings of multiple genetic loci affecting the phenotype suggest the involvement of multiple genes contributing to its pathogenesis. We collected tissue lysates from the formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections from mouse knee joints and analyzed the expression of several genes by Affymetrix QuantiGene Plex assay.