Association of Proteoglycan Degradation with Catabolic Cytokine and Stromelysin Release from Cartilage Cultured with Fibronectin Fragments

Addition of fibronectin fragments to bovine articular cartilage explant cultures results in enhanced release of metalloproteinases and rapid cartilage proteoglycan (PG) degradation and loss. The chondrolysis begins with rapid PG degradation which markedly slows after 1 week. Preliminary observations suggest that catabolic cytokines mediate chondrolytic activities of the fibronectin fragments. The objectives of this work were to investigate the correlations between: (a) release of specific cytokines; (b) release of the metalloproteinase (MMP), stromelysin-1 (MMP-3); (c) release of the tissue inhibitor of MMPs, TIMP-1, and; (d) degradation and release of PG from cultured cartilage. We report that human articular cartilage cultured with an amino-terminal 29-kDa fragment (Fn-f), at 0.1 μM, released enhanced levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-1α with peaks at Days 2, 3, and 9, respectively. MMP-3 release was elevated with a peak at Day 6 and a profile similar to that for the Fn-f-induced cartilage PG depletion. IL-6 release was enhanced within 2 days and continued at the same level throughout the culture period but this did not lead to enhanced release of TIMP-1, a known activity of IL-6. These data suggest that in the early chondrolytic events induced in cultured cartilage by Fn-f, enhanced MMP-3 release and maximal degradation and release of PG from cultured cartilage are kinetically associated with elevated release of the catabolic cytokines, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-1α. Further, a later period of slowing PG loss and slowing MMP-3 release is associated with greatly slowed release of these cytokines, but prolonged release of IL-6. This model of cartilage damage may be useful for studies of the interplay between cytokines and the effects of combinations of cytokines on cartilage homeostasis.