Aging Promotes Sirtuin 3-Dependent Cartilage Superoxide Dismutase 2 Acetylation and Osteoarthritis

Fu Y, Kinter M, Hudson J, et al. · Arthritis & Rheumatology

Cartilage SIRT3 — the mitochondrial deacetylase that consumes NAD+ — decreased substantially with age in rats and mice while cartilage oxidation and OA severity rose; whole-body SIRT3 deletion accelerated knee OA in mice, and SOD2 was hyperacetylated in human OA cartilage. The aging link in the NAD+/sirtuin cartilage chain.

Population

Aging F344BN rats (10, 20 and 30 months), C57BL/6J mice, SIRT3-knockout mice, and human OA cartilage samples

Intervention

Age-series analysis of the cartilage antioxidant network; SIRT3 treatment of cartilage homogenates; whole-body SIRT3 deletion

Comparator

Young animals; wild-type littermates

Limitations

Correlative aging series plus a very small knockout OA comparison (3-4 animals per group); shows the SIRT3 axis matters in cartilage aging, not that any supplement restores it. Full text read.