Lysophosphatidic acid stimulates cell proliferation in rat chondrocytes

Rat primary chondrocytes express the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor, LPA1, LPA3, but not LPA2. When chondrocytes were stimulated with LPA, phospholipase C-mediated cytosolic calcium increase was dramatically induced. LPA also stimulated two kinds of mitogen-activated protein kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 kinase in chondrocytes. In terms of the LPA-mediated functional modulation of chondrocytes, LPA stimulated cellular proliferation. We examined the signaling pathways involved in LPA-mediated cellular proliferation. LPA-induced chondrocyte proliferation was almost completely blocked by 2′-amino-3′-methoxyflavone (PD98059) but not by 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-methylsulfinylphenyl)-5-(4-pyridyl)1H-imidazole (SB203580), suggesting that ERK activity is essentially required for the process. Pertussis toxin almost completely inhibited the LPA-induced cellular proliferation and ERK activation, indicating the role of Gi/o protein(s) in the processes. This study demonstrates the physiological role of LPA on the modulation of rat primary chondrocyte proliferation, and the crucial role played by ERK in the process.