Circular RNA and intervertebral disc degeneration: unravelling mechanisms and implications

Guohao Xie; Tingrui Wu; Guangju Ji; Hang Wu; Yue Lai; Bo Wei; Wenhua Huang

doi:10.3389/fmolb.2023.1302017

Circular RNA and intervertebral disc degeneration: unravelling mechanisms and implications

Front Mol Biosci. 2023 Dec 19:10:1302017. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1302017. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Guohao Xie¹, Tingrui Wu¹, Guangju Ji¹, Hang Wu¹, Yue Lai¹, Bo Wei^#¹, Wenhua Huang^#^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Orthopaedic Center, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China.
² Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Translation of Medical 3D Printing Application, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Biomechanics, National Key Discipline of Human Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Guangdong Medical Innovation Platform for Translation of 3D Printing Application, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP) is a major public health problem worldwide and a significant health and economic burden. Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is the reason for LBP. However, we have not identified effective therapeutic strategies to address this challenge. With accumulating knowledge on the role of circular RNAs in the pathogenesis of IDD, we realised that circular RNAs (circRNAs) may have tremendous therapeutic potential and clinical application prospects in this field. This review presents an overview of the current understanding of characteristics, classification, biogenesis, and function of circRNAs and summarises the protective and detrimental circRNAs involved in the intervertebral disc that have been studied thus far. This review is aimed to help researchers better understand the regulatory role of circRNAs in the progression of IDD, reveal their clinical therapeutic potential, and provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and targeted treatment of IDD.

Keywords: circular RNA (circRNA); extracellular matrix; intervertebral disc degeneration; lower back pain; nucleus pulposus cell.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was funded by the Young Innovative Talents Project of Guangdong Higher Education Institutions (2021KQNCX023), Guangdong Medical Science Research Fund (B2023059), Zhanjiang Science and Technology Planning Project (2022A01178), Youth Training Fund project of Guangdong Medical University (GDMUQ2022001), and Discipline Construction Project of Guangdong Medical University (4SG22260G).