A peptide from thrombospondin 1 modulates experimental erosive arthritis by regulating connective tissue growth factor.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with leukocyte adhesion to and extravasation through vascular endothelium into synovial tissue. Recent evidence indicates that the thrombospondin 1 gene is up-regulated in patients with RA. We have identified a region within the TSP-1 type 3 repeats that inhibits human neutrophil elastase (HNE) and binds to human neutrophils. The present study was undertaken to investigate the therapeutic benefit of this TSP-1-derived peptide sequence and its effect on connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), a protein involved in fibrotic disorders and in neovascularization, which is a hallmark of RA.

Methods: CTGF gene and protein expression, as well as protein levels of CTGF in the synovium, after treatment with the TSP-1-derived peptide were studied in the peptidoglycan-polysaccharide animal model of erosive arthritis.

Results: Peptide treatment prevented joint infiltration and inflammation and was associated with reduced circulating antigen levels of HNE and TSP-1. Additionally, CTGF was up-regulated in this experimental model of RA. Treatment with the TSP-1-derived peptide was associated with down-regulation of the message and protein levels of CTGF. Immunofluorescence studies showed that the mean area fraction of CTGF immunoreactivity in the peptide-treated group of animals was significantly less than that in the untreated group.

Conclusion: These results document a role for TSP-1 in regulating CTGF gene and protein expression in synovial tissue, suggesting a link with the disease course in this model of RA. This TSP-1-derived synthetic peptide may represent an important template for drug development in RA and other inflammatory conditions associated with neutrophil activation.