A novel mechanism of intervertebral disc degeneration: imbalance between autophagy and apoptosis.

To identify a key competitive endogenous RNA network for intervertebral disc degeneration. Based on circular RNA, microRNA and mRNA expression profiles of nucleus pulposus cells, a variety of bioinformatics methods were used to screen key molecular structures and construct competitive endogenous RNA networks. 190 upregulated genes and 77 downregulated genes were identified. Gene ontology/Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes functional analysis showed that autophagy was out of balance with apoptosis. Nine hub genes, five hub microRNAs and eight hub circular RNAs were obtained through progressive reverse prediction and verification. We believe that disc degeneration is caused by an imbalance between autophagy and apoptosis in nucleus pulposus cells, which may provide nonsurgical treatment for the future delay or prevention of spinal degenerative diseases associated with intervertebral disc degeneration.