Circ_0004354 might compete with circ_0040039 to induce NPCs death and inflammatory response by targeting miR-345-3p-FAF1/TP73 axis in intervertebral disc degeneration

Figure 2

Verification of the levels of circ_0040039, circ_0004354, miR-345-3p, FAF1, and TP73 in NP tissues and TNF-α-treated NPCs. qRT-PCR experiment was utilized to measure the expression levels of circ_0040039 (a), circ_0004354 (b), miR-345-3p (c), FAF1 (d), and TP73 (e) in 16 human normal, 17 mild degenerative, and 13 severe degenerative NP tissues. P <0.05, P <0.01, P <0.001. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis was utilized to evaluate the correlation between circ_0040039 and miR-345-3p (f), circ_0004354 and miR-345-3p (g), circ_0040039 and FAF1 (h), circ_0040039 and TP73 (i), circ_0004354 and FAF1 (j), circ_0004354 and TP73 (k). (l) The expression levels of circ_0040039, circ_0004354 and miR-345-3p in NPCs were measured by qRT-PCR after treatment with TNF-α, IL-1β or both (TNF-α and IL-1β) (10 ng/ml). P <0.05, P <0.01. (M-N) TNF-α repressed ACAN and COL2 but promoted IL-1β mRNA and protein expression in NPCs. P <0.01.

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