Recently, the research team of Associate Professor Lu Jun from Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University has achieved significant progress in the research on the pathogenesis of spinal degeneration. His research achievement titled “Preclinical development of a microRNA-based therapy for intervertebral disc degeneration” and was published in “Nature Communications” in November 2018. Associate Professor Lu Jun is the corresponding author and Dr. Ji Mingliang is the first author.
The research team first adopted microRNA chip technology and quantitative PCR technology to determine that the pathogenic factor is miR-141. Then miR-141 KO mice were observed about their natural history of intervertebral disc degeneration. The result indicatedthat silencing miR-141 can prevent intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Upon further research in vitro, the research team found that miR-141 can significantly affect the phenotype of nucleus pulposus cells. The gene expression profiling and bioinformatics studies found that miR-141 target can effectively regulate the expression of SIRT1 protein (Fig. 1), which would in turn inhibit the degeneration of intervertebral discs. What was important lied in the fact that the injection of nanoparticle-coated miR-141 into the mice’s intervertebral disc can significantly inhibit the degeneration of intervertebral disc (Fig. 2). This study took the initiative in elucidating the role of miR-141/SIRT1/NF-κB signal regulation axis in IDD, thus providing new ideas for the prevention and treatment of IDD. The work has been funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province.
