Wnt/β-catenin regulates Gli1 + osteogenic progenitors in condylar subchondral bone development and osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: Gli1 has been identified as a marker of osteogenic progenitors in the condylar subchondral bone. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is known to regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation in bone. Whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway could influence Gli1 + osteogenic progenitors remains unclear. Here, we aimed to investigate the role and related mechanisms of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the regulation of Gli1 + osteogenic progenitors in condylar development and temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA). METHODS: We generated Gli1-Cre(ERT2);tdTomato mice to perform lineage tracing; We generated Gli1-Cre(ERT2); β-catenin(fl/fl) mice, in which β-catenin was lost in the Gli1 + lineage to examine the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of Gli1 + cells. The β-catenin CKO mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates were induced at 3 days and were euthanized 1, 2 or 4 weeks after induction; We induced a TMJOA model through a unilateral partial discectomy (UPD) of the temporomandibular joint disc in 6-week-old tamoxifen-treated Gli1-Cre(ERT2);β-catenin(fl/fl);tdTomato mice and control group (Gli1-Cre(ERT2);tdTomato mice). We harvested the mandibles at 4 weeks post-surgery. RESULTS: Conditional knockout of β-catenin inhibited the osteogenic activity of Gli1 + progenitor cells during condylar subchondral bone development. In discectomy-induced TMJOA, the overactivation of Gli1 in subchondral bone drove pathological osteogenesis and aberrant subchondral bone remodeling. Deletion of β-catenin in Gli1 + cells mitigated excessive Gli1 + cells activation and ectopic mineralization. CONCLUSION: Our findings establish Wnt/β-catenin signaling as a key regulator of Gli1 + progenitor cell fate determination in both bone development and TMJOA pathogenesis.