Prologation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase is associated with cell death induced by tumor necrosis factor alpha in human chondrocytes.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of JNK signaling pathway involved in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced death of chondrocytes. Primary chondrocyte cultures were obtained from human knee osteoarthritis cartilages. First passage chondrocytes were treated with TNF-alpha and various potentiators, and cell death was measured with MTT assay. C-Jun N terminal kinase (JNK) activation was investigated with the solid phase kinase assay. Expression of apoptosis-related molecule was assayed with Western blot. Chondrocytes were resistant to TNF-alpha-induced cell death. In contrast, pretreatment with actinomycin D, the phosphatase inhibitor vanadate or MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) inhibitor Ro318220 invariably led to chondrocyte death. While TNF-alpha alone stimulated a single, brief JNK activity, a second JNK peak was observed when the cells were pretreated with actinomycin D. When the cells were pretreated with vanadate or Ro318220, TNF-alpha-induced JNK activation was greatly prolonged, which was associated with the induction of cell death. The expression of Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 decreased significantly in conditions of cell death. In conclusions, our data suggest that chondrocyte death induced by TNF-alpha is associated with sustained JNK activation. This effect may be due to downregulation of TNF-alpha induced phosphatase that inactivates JNK and of Bcl-2 family proteins.