miR-31 from Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Alleviates Intervertebral Disc Degeneration by Inhibiting NFAT5 and Upregulating the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

Figure 5

miR-31 in hBMSC-EVs augments NPC proliferation and inhibits cell apoptosis and ECM degradation in NPCs. (a) miR-31 expression in EVs from hBMSCs transduced with lentivirus carrying anti-miR-31 (left) and in TNF-α-treated NPCs cocultured with BMSCs-EVs+anti-miR-31 (right) determined by RT-qPCR. (b) Proliferation of TNF-α-treated NPCs cocultured with BMSCs-EVs+anti-miR-31 determined by CCK-8 assay. (c) Apoptosis of TNF-α-treated NPCs cocultured with BMSCs-EVs+anti-miR-31 determined by flow cytometry. (d) Protein expression of apoptosis-related genes cleaved caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2 in TNF-α-treated NPCs cocultured with BMSCs-EVs+anti-miR-31 determined by Western blot. (e) Protein expression of ECM-related genes in TNF-α-treated NPCs cocultured with BMSCs-EVs+anti-miR-31 determined by Western blot. . Cell experiments were repeated three times.

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