Uridine relieves MSCs and chondrocyte senescence <i>in vitvo</i> and exhibits the potential to treat osteoarthritis <i>in vivo</i>

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of extremely high incidence in the elderly. Therefore, anti-aging may be an important prerequisite for treating OA. The senescence of chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is one of the important factors that causes OA. Here, the effect of uridine (which is a functional food derived from plants or animals) on senescence of chondrocytes and MSCs was evaluated in <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> experiments. For this, we established the senescence model of chondrocyte and MSCs <i>in vitro</i>, and established the OA model <i>in vivo</i>, and a series of experiments (such as CLSM, ELISA, Western blot, etc.) were conducted to evaluate the effect of uridine on chondrocyte and MSCs senescence. The results showed that uridine could alleviate chondrocyte and MSCs senescence <i>in vitro</i> by evaluating a series of aging markers. Furthermore, uridine could also relieve OA <i>in vivo</i>. In summary, in the present work, we found that uridine can alleviate chondrocyte and MSCs senescence in <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> experiments. Uridine has shown great potential in the treatment of OA <i>in vivo</i>, suggesting that uridine could be used to treat and prevent OA induced by aging, and has potential clinical applications in future.骨关节炎（Osteoarthritis, OA）是一类在老年人群中发病率极高的退行性疾病。因此，抗衰老或许是治疗骨关节炎的重要前提。软骨细胞与间充质干细胞（mesenchymal stem cells, MSCs）的衰老是引发骨关节炎的关键诱因之一。本研究针对尿苷（Uridine）——一种源自动植物的功能性食品——对软骨细胞与间充质干细胞衰老的影响，开展了体内（in vivo）与体外（in vitro）实验评估。为此，我们构建了体外软骨细胞与间充质干细胞衰老模型，并构建了体内骨关节炎模型；同时通过共聚焦激光扫描显微镜（CLSM）、酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）、蛋白质印迹（Western blot）等一系列实验手段，评估尿苷对软骨细胞与间充质干细胞衰老的干预效果。结果表明，通过检测一系列衰老标志物，尿苷可在体外缓解软骨细胞与间充质干细胞的衰老。此外，尿苷在体内亦可有效改善骨关节炎病症。综上，本研究证实，在体内外实验中尿苷均可缓解软骨细胞与间充质干细胞的衰老。尿苷在体内治疗骨关节炎方面展现出巨大应用潜力，提示其可用于治疗和预防衰老诱导的骨关节炎，未来具备良好的临床应用前景。