%0 Journal Article
%T Increased apoptosis in human knee osteoarthritis cartilage related to the expression of protein kinase B and protein kinase Cα in chondrocytes
%A Qingzhi Chen
%A Bing Zhang
%A Tingting Yi
%A Chun Xia
%J Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica
%D 2012
%I Polish Histochemical and Cytochemical Society
%R 10.5603/18709
%X Protein kinase B (Akt) and protein kinase C¦Á (PKC¦Á) play important roles in the regulation of cell apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Akt and PKCa in chondrocytes of human knee osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage, further evaluating their role in chondrocyte apoptosis during OA progression. Human knee OA cartilages were obtained from 38 patients undergoing knee arthroplasty, which is the medium-late stage of OA. Healthy knee cartilages were obtained from 11 amputees. The samples taken from the condyle of femur were collected routinely for morphological, immunohistochemical and Western blot detection, respectively. Light microscopy and laser-scanning confocal microscopy were used for morphological observation. The optical density with computer image analysis evaluated the intensity of immunohistochemical reaction of Akt and PKC¦Á in OA cartilage. Western blot detected the protein expression levels. The results indicated that Akt and PKCa were involved in OA progression, along with the increase of cell apoptosis. In OA cartilage, Akt decreased (p < 0.05) and PKC¦Á increased (p < 0.05). There was a negative correlation and interaction between Akt and PKC¦Á (r = ¨C0.8). These results demonstrated that both Akt and PKC¦Á are related to increased chondrocyte apoptosis in human OA cartilage. The correlation between human OA progression, the role of Akt and PKC¦Á, and chondrocyte apoptosis allows for new therapeutic strategies to be considered.
%K Akt
%K PKCalpha
%K correlation
%K chondrocytes
%K human OA cartilage
%U http://czasopisma.viamedica.pl/fhc/article/view/18709