TonEBP-deficiency accelerates age-dependent intervertebral disc degeneration underscored by matrix remodeling, cytoskeletal rearrangements, and changes in proinflammatory gene expression. TonEBP-deficiency accelerates age-dependent intervertebral disc degeneration underscored by matrix remodeling, cytoskeletal rearrangements, and changes in proinflammatory gene expression

Our studies show that TonEBP-deficiency causes pronounced degeneration of all three intervertebral disc compartments with greater incidence of herniation in the mouse. The disc phenotype is marked by extracellular matrix remodeling, actin cytoskeleton rearrangements, and suppressed proinflammatory gene expression, advancing our understanding of the contributions of TonEBP in intervertebral disc homeostasis and disease. We used microarray to explore the transcriptomics of differentially expressed genes of annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue in TonEBP haploinsufficient mice on a C57BL/6 background. Overall design: AF and NP tissue were dissected from lumbar discs (L1-S1) of 12-month-old TonEBP haploinsufficient and wild-type mice (n=3). RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.