Nucleus pulposus related lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles in intervertebral disc degeneration

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) leads to low back pain and disability globally. The pathophysiology of IDD is not entirely understood. There is increasing evidence that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a key regulatory role in a wide range of biological processes. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles of human intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues, specifically nucleus pulpous (NP) tissues, with early and advanced stages of disc degeneration. The overview of lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles in the current study revealed that differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs were identified that have been reported to be relevant to IDD. Importantly, differentially expressed lncRNAs and mRNAs that regulate the major signaling pathways, such as NF-κB, MAPK, and Wnt signaling, that are well known to be responsible for the pathogenesis of IDD. Human NP tissues obtained from spine surgeries were used in this study. The samples were divided into two groups: early stage degeneration (n=3, Pfirrmann’s MRI grade: I-III) and advanced stage degeneration (n=3, grade: IV-V). we conducted lncRNA and mRNA profiling in 3 human control nucleus pulposus tissue and 3 degenerative nucleus pulposus tissue by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq).