The expression profiling of circular RNAs (circRNA) in human intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD)

Circular RNA expression profiling of human nucleus pulposus derived from patients with IDD in comparison with those derived from cadaveric disc as normal control. We have identified the expression profiles of miRNAs (GSE63492), lncRNAs, mRNAs (GSE56081) in IDD using 5 normal discs as control and 5 IDD discs. Accumulating evidence indicates that circRNAs are key regulators of gene expression by interacting with miRNAs. circRNA is a novel type of RNA that, unlike linear RNA, forms a covalently closed continuous loop, and is highly represented in the eukaryotic transcriptome. Two-condition experiment: control nucleus pulposus vs. degenerative nucleus pulposus. Biological replicates: 5 control, 5 degenerated, independently harvested (the same samples as GSE56081 and GSE63492). Four replicates per array. Previous affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University)