Abnormal inhibition of osteoclastogenesis by mesenchymal stem cells through the miR-4284/CXCL5 axis in ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common inflammatory autoimmune disease, characterized by pathological osteogenesis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), as the main source of osteoblasts, participate in bone remodeling not only through differentiation into osteoblasts but also through indirect regulation of osteoclastogenesis. Our previous study indicated that the stronger osteogenic differentiation of MSCs from AS patients (ASMSCs) involved in pathological osteogenesis. However, whether there is any abnormality in the regulation of osteoclastogenesis by ASMSCs remains unclear. In this study, ASMSCs or MSCs from healthy donors (HDMSCs) were co-cultured with CD14 + monocytes in osteoclast induction medium. Our results demonstrated that ASMSCs exhibited a stronger capacity to inhibit osteoclastogenesis than HDMSCs. To explore underlying mechanisms, cytokine array assays were performed, showing that ASMSCs secreted more CXCL5 than HDMSCs, which was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Moreover, inhibition of osteoclastogenesis by ASMSCs was recovered by decreasing CXCL5. Besides, the inhibitory effect of CXCL5 on osteoclastogenesis was confirmed by exogenous addition. Bioinformatics analysis was applied to find the interaction between miR-4284 and CXCL5, which was verified by luciferase reporter assays. Furthermore, we used miR-4284 inhibitors or mimics to prove that the expression of CXCL5 was regulated by miR-4284. Further analysis showed that downregulation of miR-4284 in MSCs resulted in increase of CXCL5, markedly inhibiting osteoclastogenesis, whereas upregulation of miR-4284 in MSCs had the opposite effect. Our findings indicate that ASMSCs exhibit a stronger capacity to inhibit osteoclastogenesis than HDMSCs through the miR-4284/CXCL5 axis, which provide a new perspective on the mechanism of pathologic osteogenesis in AS.