Depleted Long Noncoding RNA GAS5 Relieves Intervertebral Disc Degeneration via microRNA-17-3p/Ang-2

Figure 10

A mechanism map depicting the role of GAS5/miR-17-3p/Ang-2/IL-1β axis in IVDD. GAS5 impairs miR-17-3p-dependent Ang-2 and affects the expression of downstream IL-1β. Subsequently, the overproduction of IL-1β results in an elevation in the levels of ECM degradation-related proteins (MMP3, MMP13, ADAMTS4, and ADAMTS5) and apoptosis-related proteins (cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-7, and cleaved caspase-9), along with dropped levels of ECM synthesis-related proteins (collagen II and aggrecan), thus leading to potentiated NP cell apoptosis and ECM degradation during IVDD.