Knockdown of long noncoding RNA HOTAIR inhibits osteoarthritis chondrocyte injury by miR-107/CXCL12 axis

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease characterized via destruction of cartilage. Chondrocyte damage is associated with cartilage destruction during OA. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are implicated in the regulation of chondrocyte damage in OA progression. This study aims to investigate the role and underlying mechanism of lncRNA homeobox antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) in OA chondrocyte injury. METHODS: Twenty-three OA patients and healthy controls without OA were recruited. Chondrocytes were isolated from OA cartilage tissues. HOTAIR, microRNA-107 (miR-107) and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) levels were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation were measured using cell counting kit-8, flow cytometry and western blot. The target interaction was explored by bioinformatics, luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. RESULTS: HOTAIR expression was enhanced, and miR-107 level was reduced in OA cartilage samples. HOTAIR overexpression inhibited cell proliferation, but induced cell apoptosis and ECM degradation in chondrocytes. HOTAIR knockdown caused an opposite effect. MiR-107 was sponged and inhibited via HOTAIR, and knockdown of miR-107 mitigated the effect of HOTAIR silence on chondrocyte injury. CXCL12 was targeted by miR-107. CXCL12 overexpression attenuated the roles of miR-107 overexpression or HOTAIR knockdown in the proliferation, apoptosis and ECM degradation. CXCL12 expression was decreased by HOTAIR silence, and restored by knockdown of miR-107. CONCLUSION: HOTAIR knockdown promoted chondrocyte proliferation, but inhibited cell apoptosis and ECM degradation in OA chondrocytes by regulating the miR-107/CXCL12 axis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13018-021-02547-7.