LncRNA OIP5-AS1 has a common gene imbalance in various cancers and tumours, which plays an important role in regulating its biological function. However, there are few studies on lncRNA OIP5-AS1 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 in the pathogenesis of RA. In the present study, we established an adjuvant arthritis (AA) rat model to obtain primary fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs);The subcellular localisation of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) assay; Cell proliferation of FLSs was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay;IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA);Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blots(WB) and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of lncRNA OIP5-AS1/miR-410-3p/wnt7b signal axis and Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway related indicators in FLSs. FISH assay confirmed the presence of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 in the cytoplasm, suggesting that it acts as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). qRT-PCR showed that the expression of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 was upregulated in FLSs, while the expression of miR-410-3p was downregulated in FLSs. We also found that lncRNA OIP5-AS1 knockdown inhibited the proliferation and inflammation of FLSs. Moreover, the expression of Wnt7b, the downstream target gene of miR-410-3p, and the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway were also inhibited by lncRNA OIP5-AS1 knockdown. These results suggested that lncRNA OIP5-AS1 promotes the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway by regulating the miR-410-3p/Wnt7b signalling axis, thereby participating in the occurrence and development of RA.
Keywords: LncRNA OIP5-AS1; Rheumatoid arthritis; Wnt/β-catenin pathway; fibroblast-like synoviocytes; proliferation.