Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14(2), 4361-4371; doi:10.3390/ijms14024361
Article

Prevention of Tendon Adhesions by ERK2 Small Interfering RNAs

Hongjiang Ruan † email, Shen Liu † email, Fengfeng Liemail, Xujun Liemail and Cunyi Fan* email
† These authors contributed equally to this work. Department of Orthopaedics, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, School of Medicine, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai 200233, China † These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 21 November 2012; in revised form: 6 January 2013 / Accepted: 7 January 2013 / Published: 21 February 2013
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Regulation by non-coding RNAs)
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Abstract: Tendon adhesions are one of the most concerning complications after surgical repair of flexor tendon injury. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 2 plays crucial roles in fibroblast proliferation and collagen expression which contributes to the formation of tendon adhesions after flexor tendon surgery. Using a chicken model, we have examined the effects of a small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting ERK2 delivered by a lentiviral system on tendon adhesion formation with an adhesion scoring system, histological assessment, and biomechanical evaluation. It was found that ERK2 siRNA effectively suppressed the increase of fibroblasts and the formation of tendon adhesions (p < 0.05 compared with the control group). Moreover, no statistically significant reduction in breaking force was detected between the ERK2 siRNA group and the control group. These results show that the lentiviral-mediated siRNA system is effective in preventing tendon adhesion formation but not to tendon healing, and may be used for tendon repair after confirmation and improvement by future detailed studies.
Keywords: tendon repair; adhesion; siRNA; extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 2; fibroblast proliferation; lentivirus

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ruan, H.; Liu, S.; Li, F.; Li, X.; Fan, C. Prevention of Tendon Adhesions by ERK2 Small Interfering RNAs. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14, 4361-4371.

AMA Style

Ruan H, Liu S, Li F, Li X, Fan C. Prevention of Tendon Adhesions by ERK2 Small Interfering RNAs. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2013; 14(2):4361-4371.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ruan, Hongjiang; Liu, Shen; Li, Fengfeng; Li, Xujun; Fan, Cunyi. 2013. "Prevention of Tendon Adhesions by ERK2 Small Interfering RNAs." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 14, no. 2: 4361-4371.

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