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Tu J, Li W, Hansbro PM, Yan Q, Bai X, Donovan C, Kim RY, Galvao I, Das A, Yang C, Zou J, Diwan A. Smoking and tetramer tryptase accelerate intervertebral disc degeneration by inducing METTL14-mediated DIXDC1 m 6 modification. Mol Ther 2023; 31:2524-2542. [PMID: 37340635 PMCID: PMC10422004 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Although cigarette smoking (CS) and low back pain (LBP) are common worldwide, their correlations and the mechanisms of action remain unclear. We have shown that excessive activation of mast cells (MCs) and their proteases play key roles in CS-associated diseases, like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), blood coagulation, and lung cancer. Previous studies have also shown that MCs and their proteases induce degenerative musculoskeletal disease. By using a custom-designed smoke-exposure mouse system, we demonstrated that CS results in intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration and release of MC-restricted tetramer tryptases (TTs) in the IVDs. TTs were found to regulate the expression of methyltransferase 14 (METTL14) at the epigenetic level by inducing N6-methyladenosine (m6A) deposition in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the transcript that encodes dishevelled-axin (DIX) domain-containing 1 (DIXDC1). That reaction increases the mRNA stability and expression of Dixdc1. DIXDC1 functionally interacts with disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) to accelerate the degeneration and senescence of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells by activating a canonical Wnt pathway. Our study demonstrates the association between CS, MC-derived TTs, and LBP. These findings raise the possibility that METTL14-medicated DIXDC1 m6A modification could serve as a potential therapeutic target to block the development of degeneration of the NP in LBP patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Tu
- Spine Labs, St. George & Sutherland Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Wentian Li
- Spine Labs, St. George & Sutherland Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Philip M Hansbro
- Faculty of Science, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Qi Yan
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Xupeng Bai
- Center for Innovation and Translational Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, First Affiliated Hospital, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Chantal Donovan
- Faculty of Science, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Richard Y Kim
- Faculty of Science, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Izabela Galvao
- Faculty of Science, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Inflammation, Centenary Institute, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Abhirup Das
- Spine Labs, St. George & Sutherland Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Cao Yang
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical School, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
| | - Jun Zou
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
| | - Ashish Diwan
- Spine Labs, St. George & Sutherland Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Spine Service, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, St. George Hospital, Kogarah, NSW, Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Guang Cheng
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China
- Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Yi Xiang J Wang
- Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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