Elucidating the role of ubiquitination and deubiquitination in osteoarthritis progression

Osteoarthritis is non-inflammatory degenerative joint arthritis, which exacerbates disability in elder persons. The molecular mechanisms of osteoarthritis are elusive. Ubiquitination, one type of post-translational modifications, has been demonstrated to accelerate or ameliorate the development and progression of osteoarthritis via targeting specific proteins for ubiquitination and determining protein stability and localization. Ubiquitination process can be reversed by a class of deubiquitinases via deubiquitination. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the multifaceted role of E3 ubiquitin ligases in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. We also describe the molecular insight of deubiquitinases into osteoarthritis processes. Moreover, we highlight the multiple compounds that target E3 ubiquitin ligases or deubiquitinases to influence osteoarthritis progression. We discuss the challenge and future perspectives via modulation of E3 ubiquitin ligases and deubiquitinases expression for enhancement of the therapeutic efficacy in osteoarthritis patients. We conclude that modulating ubiquitination and deubiquitination could alleviate the osteoarthritis pathogenesis to achieve the better treatment outcomes in osteoarthritis patients.

Automated summary

Osteoarthritis is a non-inflammatory degenerative joint arthritis that worsens disability in the elderly. Ubiquitination, a type of post-translational modification, has been shown to impact the development and progression of osteoarthritis by targeting specific proteins for ubiquitination and influencing protein stability and localization. This review summarizes the multifaceted role of E3 ubiquitin ligases and deubiquitinases in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis, as well as highlighting compounds that target these proteins to influence disease progression. The modulation of ubiquitination and deubiquitination may hold promise for improving treatment outcomes in osteoarthritis patients.