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Experimental arthritis

New synovitis gene identified

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 7, page 620 (2011)Cite this article

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“Abnormal synovial proliferation is a major characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis; however, the molecular mechanisms behind this process are still unclear and there is no drug that targets it,” explains Ryoji Fujii from the St Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan. Research from Fujii and colleagues, published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, has identified another piece in the puzzle in the shape of SPACIA1/SAAL1, a novel gene that they show to be associated with synoviocyte proliferation. Overexpression of Spacia1 resulted in increased synovitis and worsened disease in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

First, the authors performed transcriptome analysis of the foot joints of mice with CIA and identified 80 genes that were overexpressed in these mice in comparison with healthy controls. To find genes that were associated with proliferation, the authors performed proliferation assays in cultured RA synovial fibroblasts, using antisense oligonucleotides and small interfering RNAs, and identified SPACIA1 as the gene that, when blocked, most strongly inhibited RA synovial fibroblast proliferation.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Sato, T. et al. Overexpression of SPACIA1/SAAL1, a new gene that is involved in synoviocyte proliferation, accelerates the progression of synovitis in mice and humans. Arthritis Rheum. doi:10.1002/art30617

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  1. Jenny Buckland
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Buckland, J. New synovitis gene identified. Nat Rev Rheumatol 7, 620 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2011.143

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2011.143

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