LncRNA PACER is down-regulated in osteoarthritis and regulates chondrocyte apoptosis and lncRNA HOTAIR expression

LncRNA PACER is a chondrocyte inflammation-associated long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and chondrocyte inflammation is involved in osteoarthritis (OA). We observed that plasma PACER was down-regulated, while plasma HOTAIR was up-regulated in OA patients. Altered plasma levels of PACER and HOTAIR distinguished OA patients from healthy controls. PACER and HOTAIR were inversely correlated in both OA patients and healthy controls. PACER overexpression mediated the down-regulation of HOTAIR, while HOTAIR overexpression did not significantly affect PACER. PACER overexpression led to inhibited, while HOTAIR overexpression led to promoted apoptosis of chondrocyte. HOTAIR overexpression attenuated the effects of PACER overexpression. Therefore, lncRNA PACER is down-regulated in OA and regulates chondrocyte apoptosis by down-regulating lncRNA HOTAIR.