Human articular chondrocytes express ChemR23 and chemerin; ChemR23 promotes inflammatory signalling upon binding the ligand chemerin21-157

Abstract

These results demonstrate that human chondrocytes express both the receptor ChemR23 and the ligand chemerin. Chemerin(21-157) stimulation engaged signal-transduction pathways that further promoted inflammatory signalling in chondrocytes, as judged by an enhanced secretion of cytokines and metalloproteases. Taken together, the previously reported chemotaxis and the present findings suggest that the receptor and its ligand may play pivotal roles in joint inflammation.