The mitophagy receptor BNIP3 is critical for the regulation of metabolic homeostasis and mitochondrial function in the nucleus pulposus cells of the intervertebral disc

Transcriptional analysis of BNIP3-knockdown rat NP cells and ShRNA control cells The transcriptomic analysis of the BNIP3-deficient cells showed dysregulation of cellular functions including membrane and cytoskeletal integrity, ECM-growth factor signaling, protein quality control with an overall increase in themes related to angiogenesis and innate immune response. The nucleus pulposus (NP) was harvested from the intervertebral discs of 3-4 month old rat. The cells were transduced with BNIP3, lentiviral particle or control ShRNA pLKO.1 after 4 days cells were collected for RNA extraction and hybridization using Affymetrix microarray.