Verapamil Protects against Cartilage Degradation in Osteoarthritis by Inhibiting Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling

In past years, the canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has emerged as a critical regulator of cartilage development and homeostasis. FRZB, a soluble antagonist of Wnt signaling, has been studied in osteoarthritis (OA) animal models and OA patients as a modulator of Wnt signaling. We screened for FDA-approved drugs that induce FRZB expression and suppress Wnt/β-catenin signaling. We found that verapamil, a widely prescribed L-type calcium channel blocker, elevated FRZB expression and suppressed Wnt/β-catenin signaling in human OA chondrocytes. Expression and nuclear translocation of β-catenin was attenuated by verapamil in OA chondrocytes. Lack of the verapamil effects in LiCl-treated and FRZB-downregulated OA chondrocytes also suggested that verpamil suppressed Wnt signaling by inducing FRZB. Verapamil enhanced gene expressions of chondrogenic markers of ACAN encoding aggrecan, COL2A1 encoding collagen type II α1, and SOX9, and suppressed Wnt-responsive AXIN2 and MMP3 in human OA chondrocytes. Verapamil ameliorated Wnt3A-induced proteoglycan loss in chondrogenically differentiated ATDC5 cells. Verapamil inhibited hypertrophic differentiation of chondrocytes in the explant culture of mouse tibiae. Intraarticular injection of verapamil inhibited OA progression as well as nuclear localizations of β-catenin in a rat OA model. We propose that verapamil holds promise as a potent therapeutic agent for OA by upregulating FRZB and subsequently downregulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling.