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UNLABELLED: Cellular senescence is an irreversible side effect of some pharmaceuticals which can contribute to tissue degeneration. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether pharmaceutical glucocorticoids induce senescence in tenocytes. METHODS: Features of senescence (β-galactosidase activity at pH 6 (SA-β-gal) and active mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) in cell cycle arrest) as well as the activity of the two main pathways leading to cell senescence were examined in glucocorticoid-treated primary human tenocytes. Evidence of senescence-inducing pathway induction in vivo was obtained using immunohistochemistry on tendon biopsy specimens taken before and 7 weeks after subacromial Depo-Medrone injection. RESULTS: Dexamethasone treatment of tenocytes resulted in an increased percentage of SA-βgal-positive cells. Levels of phosphorylated p70S6K did not decrease with glucocorticoid treatment indicating mTOR remained active. Increased levels of acetylated p53 as well as increased RNA levels of its pro-senescence effector p21 were evident in dexamethasone-treated tenocytes. Levels of the p53 deacetylase sirtuin 1 were lower in dexamethasone-treated cells compared with controls. Knockdown of p53 or inhibition of p53 activity prevented dexamethasone-induced senescence. Activation of sirtuin 1 either by exogenous overexpression or by treatment with resveratrol or low glucose prevented dexamethasone-induced senescence. Immunohistochemical analysis of tendon biopsies taken before and after glucocorticoid injection revealed a significant increase in the percentage of p53-positive cells (p=0.03). The percentage of p21-positive cells also tended to be higher post-injection (p=0.06) suggesting glucocorticoids activate the p53/p21 senescence-inducing pathway in vivo as well as in vitro. CONCLUSION: As cell senescence is irreversible in vivo, glucocorticoid-induced senescence may result in long-term degenerative changes in tendon tissue.

Original publication

DOI

10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-203146

Type

Journal article

Journal

Ann Rheum Dis

Publication Date

07/2014

Volume

73

Pages

1405 - 1413

Keywords

Chondrocytes, Corticosteroids, Fibroblasts, Inflammation, Tendinitis, Adult, Aged, Cell Cycle, Cells, Cultured, Cellular Senescence, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21, Dexamethasone, Female, Gene Knockdown Techniques, Glucocorticoids, Humans, In Vitro Techniques, Male, Middle Aged, Rotator Cuff, Signal Transduction, Sirtuin 1, TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases, Tendinopathy, Tendons, Tumor Suppressor Protein p53, beta-Galactosidase