Inhibition of LDL receptor-related protein 3 suppresses chondrogenesis of stem cells, inhibits proliferation, and promotes apoptosis

Abstract

Articular cartilage defects remain the most common and challenging joint disease. Cartilage lacks the self-healing capacity after injury due to its avascularity. Recently, stem cell-based therapy has been applied for cartilage regeneration. However, the critical target for stem cells during chondrogenesis remains unclear. We first reported that LDL receptor-related protein 3 (LRP3) expression was markedly increased during chondrogenesis in stem cells. Furthermore, LRP3 was an effective chondrogenic stimulator, as confirmed by knockdown and overexpression experiments and RNA sequencing. In addition, inhibition of LRP3 suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis. Therefore, our study first defined a new chondrogenic stimulator, LRP3, with detailed clarification, which provided a novel target for stem cell-based cartilage regeneration.