biostudies-literatureUnknown14(8)Li XOsteoarthritis (OA) is an aging-associated disease characterized by joint stiffness pain and destroyed articular cartilage. Traditional treatments for OA are limited to alleviating various OA symptoms. There is a lack of drugs available in clinical practice that can truly repair cartilage damage. Here, we developed the chondroitin sulfate analog CS-semi5, semi-synthesized from chondroitin sulfate A. <i>In vivo</i>, CS-semi5 alleviated inflammation, provided analgesic effects, and protected cartilage in the modified Hulth OA rat model and papain-induced OA rat model. A bioinformatics analysis was performed on samples from OA patients and an exosome analysis on papain-induced OA rats, revealing miR-122-5p as the key regulator associated with CS-semi5 in OA treatment. Binding prediction reveaActa pharmaceutica Sinica. B3528-3542https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11365380biostudies-literatureSemi-synthetic chondroitin sulfate CS-semi5 upregulates miR-122-5p, conferring a therapeutic effect on osteoarthritis <i>via</i> the p38/MMP13 pathway.PMC11365380Li XYang JWu LZhang HChen XWang HZhou YYang SZhao ZSong YfalseSemi-synthetic chondroitin sulfate CS-semi5 upregulates miR-122-5p, conferring a therapeutic effect on osteoarthritis <i>via</i> the p38/MMP13 pathway.Osteoarthritis (OA) is an aging-associated disease characterized by joint stiffness pain and destroyed articular cartilage. Traditional treatments for OA are limited to alleviating various OA symptoms. There is a lack of drugs available in clinical practice that can truly repair cartilage damage. Here, we developed the chondroitin sulfate analog CS-semi5, semi-synthesized from chondroitin sulfate A. <i>In vivo</i>, CS-semi5 alleviated inflammation, provided analgesic effects, and protected cartilage in the modified Hulth OA rat model and papain-induced OA rat model. A bioinformatics analysis was performed on samples from OA patients and an exosome analysis on papain-induced OA rats, revealing miR-122-5p as the key regulator associated with CS-semi5 in OA treatment. Binding prediction revea2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Aug2026-07-15T10:58:16.082Z2024-10-16T14:22:55.968ZS-EPMC113653803922088310.1016/j.apsb.2024.05.016