Impairment of chemical hypoxia-induced sphingosine kinase-1 expression and activation in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts: A signature of exhaustion?

Sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) and 2 (SphK2) have been shown contribute to synovial inflammation in animal models of arthritis. However, low levels of intracellular sphingosine-1 phosphate (S1P) were reported in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) from patients in the end stage of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to normal FLS. Moreover, the S1P receptor-mediated chemokine synthesis was altered in RAFLS in response to chemical hypoxia. Since the mechanisms responsible for low levels of intracellular S1P in RAFLS are not fully identified, we evaluated the contribution of SphKs to the S1P-induced synthesis of chemokines under conditions of chemical hypoxia. Our results show that a chemical hypoxia mimetic cobalt chloride (CoCl2) increased SphK1 expression and activation in normal FLS but not in RAFLS. Using selective inhibitors of SphKs and gene silencing approaches, we provide evidence that both SphK1 and SphK2 are involved in hypoxia-induced chemokine production in normal FLS. In contrast, only SphK2 mediates hypoxia-induced chemokine production in RAFLS. Moreover, CoCl2 increased S1P2 and S1P3 receptor mRNA levels in normal FLS but not in RAFLS. The data suggest that altered expression and/or activation of SphK1 combined with reduced induction of S1P receptor expression by CoCl2 impaired the CoCl2-mediated autocrine S1P receptor signaling loop and chemokine production in RAFLS.