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Abnormal expression of chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferases in the articular cartilage of pediatric patients with Kashin–Beck disease

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the expression of enzymes involved in the sulfation of articular cartilage from proximal metacarpophalangeal (PMC) joint cartilage and distal metacarpophalangeal (DMC) joint cartilage in children with Kashin–Beck disease (KBD). The finger cartilage samples of PMC and DMC were collected from KBD and normal children aged 5–14 years old. Hematoxylin and eosin staining as well as immunohistochemical staining were used to observe the morphology and quantitate the expression of carbohydrate sulfotransferase 3 (CHST-3), carbohydrate sulfotransferase 12 (CHST-12), carbohydrate sulfotransferase 13 (CHST-13), uronyl 2-O-sulfotransferase (UST), and aggrecan. In the results, the numbers of chondrocyte decreased in all three zones of PMC and DMC in the KBD group. Less positive staining cells for CHST-3, CHST-12, CHST-13, UST, and aggrecan were observed in almost all three zones of PMC and DMC in KBD. The positive staining cell rates of CHST-12 were higher in superficial and middle zones of PMC and DMC in KBD, and a significantly higher rate of CHST-13 was observed only in superficial zone of PMC in KBD. In conclusion, the abnormal expression of chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferases in chondrocytes of KBD children may provide an explanation for the cartilage damage, and provide therapeutic targets for the treatment.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Zengtie Zhang in School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University for his support and cooperation in the staining of the cartilage slices.

Funding

This study was supported by Shenzhen Science and Technology Project (JCYJ20170816100755047), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81872567, 81402639), and China Postdoctoral Science Funding (2018M633530). The study sponsors were not involved in the study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation, or in the writing of the manuscript, neither did they affect the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Author notes

  1. Jian Lei, Siqi Yan and Yuan Zhou are co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, P. R. China

    Jian Lei, Yuan Zhou, Liyun Wang, Jinghua Zhang, Xiong Guo & Mikko J. Lammi

  2. Shenzhen Institute, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shenzhen, 518057, P. R. China

    Siqi Yan, Liyun Wang & Jing Han

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Health Science Center of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, P. R. China

    Siqi Yan

  4. Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden

    Mikko J. Lammi & Chengjuan Qu

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  1. Jian Lei
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Contributions

All authors participated in drafting the article and critically modifying the important content of knowledge, with all authors endorsing the final version. Dr. Han had full access to all data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis. Study conception and design: Han. Acquisition of data: Lei, Yan, Zhou. Analysis and interpretation of data: Lei, Yan, Zhou, Wang, Han, Zhang, Lammi, Qu. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content: Lei, Yan, Lammi, Han, Qu. Final approval of the version of the article to be published: Lei, Yan, Zhou, Wang, Zhang, Guo, Lammi, Han, Qu.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jing Han.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. The authors’ affiliations are shown on the cover page. The authors have sole responsibility for the writing and content of the paper.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by medical research permission from the Human Ethical Committee in Xi’an Jiaotong University. All the participants including two groups KBD (n = 5) and control (n = 5) and the legal guardians were provided with a full understanding of this study and gave written informed consent.

Antibodies used in the study

All antibodies were commercially obtained and datasheets verifying their authenticity and reactivity are available upon request, either from the authors or from the respective manufacturing/distributing companies.

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Lei, J., Yan, S., Zhou, Y. et al. Abnormal expression of chondroitin sulfate sulfotransferases in the articular cartilage of pediatric patients with Kashin–Beck disease. Histochem Cell Biol 153, 153–164 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-019-01833-0

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