Applicability of human osteoarthritic chondrocytes for in vitro efficacy testing of anti-TNF alpha drugs

作者：Zigon Branc Sara; Jeras Matjaz; Blejec Andrej; Barlic Ariana^*

来源：Biologicals, 2017, 45: 96-101.

DOI：10.1016/j.biologicals.2016.09.013

• Human osteoarthritic chondrocytes (OACs)
• TNF-alpha
• Gene expression
• In vitro drug testing

In vitro cell-based models are important tools for assessing efficacies of new leads in early phases of drug development. Human osteoarthritic chondrocytes (OACs), obtained from biomedical waste material, represent a valuable, relatively accessible cellular source that could be used for this purpose. By employing reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) we compared gene expression profiles of key anabolic, catabolic and inflammatory genes of freshly isolated vs. monolayer cultured OACs (passages PO-P2) and non-stimulated vs. tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) stimulated P2 OACs. After expansion of OACs in monolayer cultures, the expression of almost all analyzed genes significantly decreased. The subsequent addition of INF-alpha to OACs at P2 significantly increased expressions of all catabolic and inflammatory genes, leaving the anabolic profile almost unchanged. TNF-alpha-treated OACs were later utilized for efficacy testing of anti-TNF-alpha drugs infliximab and etanercept and both significantly reduced the expressions of all catabolic and inflammatory genes tested.