MiR-99a alleviates apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation in experimentally induced spine osteoarthritis by targeting FZD8

BACKGROUND: Our previous study identified miR-99a as a negative regulator of early chondrogenic differentiation. However, the functional role of miR-99a in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) remains unclear. METHODS: We examined the levels of miR-99a and Frizzled 8 (FZD8) expression in tissue specimens. Human SW1353 chondrosarcoma cells were stimulated with IL-6 and TNF-α to construct an in vitro OA environment. A luciferase reporter assay was performed to analyze the relationship between miR-99a and FZD8. CCK-8 assays, flow cytometry, and ELISA assays were used to assess cell viability, apoptosis, and inflammatory molecule expression, respectively. Percutaneous intra-spinal injections of papain mixed solution were performed to create an OA Sprague–Dawley rat model. Alcian Blue staining, Safranin O Fast Green staining, and Toluidine Blue O staining were performed to detect the degrees of cartilage injury. RESULTS: MiR-99a expression was downregulated in the severe spine OA patients when compared with the mild spine OA patients, and was also decreased in the experimentally induced in vitro OA environment when compared with the control environment. Functionally, overexpression of miR-99a significantly suppressed cell apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation stimulated by IL-6 and TNF-α. FZD8 was identified as a target gene of miR-99a. Furthermore, the suppressive effects of miR-99a on cell injury induced by IL-6 and TNF-α were reversed by FZD8 overexpression. Moreover, the levels of miR-99a expression were also reduced in the induced OA model rats, and miR-99a agomir injection relieved the cartilage damage. At the molecular level, miR-99a overexpression downregulated the levels of MMP13, β-catenin, Bax, and caspase-3 protein expression and upregulated the levels of COL2A1 and Bcl-2 protein expression in the in vitro OA-like chondrocyte model and also in the experimental OA model rats. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that miR-99a alleviated apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation by targeting FZD8, and thereby suppressed the development and progression of experimentally induced spine osteoarthritis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-022-05822-8.