10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid prevents osteoarthritis by targeting aspartyl β hydroxylase and inhibiting chondrocyte senescence in male mice preclinically

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease with joint pain as the main symptom, caused by fibrosis and loss of articular cartilage. Due to the complexity and heterogeneity of osteoarthritis, there is a lack of effective individualized disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs in clinical practice. Chondrocyte senescence is reported to participate in occurrence and progression of osteoarthritis. Here we show that small molecule 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid suppresses cartilage degeneration and relieves pain in the chondrocytes, cartilage explants from osteoarthritis patients, surgery-induced medial meniscus destabilization or naturally aged male mice. We further confirm that 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid exerts a protective effect by targeting the glycosylation site in the AspArgHydrox domain of aspartyl β-hydroxylase. Mechanistically, 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid alleviate cellular senescence through the ERK/p53/p21 and GSK3β/p16 pathways in the chondrocytes. Our study uncovers that 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid modulate cartilage metabolism by targeting aspartyl β-hydroxylase to inhibit chondrocyte senescence in osteoarthritis. 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid may be a promising therapeutic drug against osteoarthritis. Chondrocyte senescence is known to play a role in the occurrence and progression of osteoarthritis. Here, the authors demonstrate that 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), a small molecule derived from the food nutrient royal jelly, can prevent osteoarthritis by delaying chondrocyte senescence through targeting aspartyl β-hydroxylase.