Lactate Efflux From Intervertebral Disc Cells Is Required for Maintenance of Spine Health

Monocarboxylate Transporter 4 (MCT4) is important for H+/lactate efflux from nucleus pulposus cells in the intervertebral disc of mice. We examined the transcriptomic profile of nucleus pulposus cells in wild-type and MCT4 global knock-out mice using microarrays. Nucleus pulposus tissue was harvested from the intervertebral discs of four wild-type (WT) (C57Bl/6) and three MCT4 global knock-out mice (MCT4 KO) (C57Bl/6N) between 13-14 months of age. Nucleus pulposus tissue was pooled from all discs in each animal for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.