Targeting of CIRP attenuates osteoarthritis progression via suppressing TLR4/NF‑κB/NLRP3 signaling axis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common joint diseases worldwide. Recently, cold‑inducible RNA binding protein (CIRP), a novel identified pro‑inflammatory cytokine, was reportedly increased in the synovial fluid of OA patients. However, its function and the underlying mechanism in OA progression remains unclear. Therefore, the current study investigated the role of CIRP in the progression of OA. It was observed that CIRP and matrix metalloproteinases were highly expressed in OA chondrocytes, whereas collagen Ⅱ exhibited low expression levels. Additionally, CIRP was found to be secreted by OA human chondrocytes in the form of exosomes. CIRP treatment influenced inflammatory related signaling pathway, which in turn affected inflammatory response and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation in human chondrocytes. Additionally, CIRP induced the nuclear translocation of p65 and promoted ECM degradation dependent the Toll‑like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF‑κB signaling. The present study also reported that CIRP increased the IL‑1β secretion via the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Furthermore, targeting of CIRP by microRNA‑145 or exosome loading with microRNA‑145 attenuated its role in promoting OA both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. The findings indicated that CIRP acts as a pro‑inflammatory factor and activates the TLR4/NF‑κB/NLRP3 pathway, which promotes the inflammatory response, ECM degradation and the progression of OA and targeting CIRP could be a novel strategy for OA treatment.