Intervertebral disc (IVD), a moderately moving joint located between the vertebrae, has a limited capacity for self-repair, and treating injured intervertebral discs remains a major challenge. The development of innovative therapies to reverse IVD degeneration relies primarily on the discovery of key molecules that, occupying critical points of regulatory mechanisms, can be proposed as potential intradiscal injectable biological agents. This study aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanism of the reciprocal regulation of two genes differently involved in IVD homeostasis, the miR-221 microRNA and the TRPS1 transcription factor. Human lumbar IVD tissue samples and IVD primary cells were used to specifically evaluate gene expression and perform functional analysis including the luciferase gene reporter assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation, cell transfection with hTRPS1 overexpression vector and antagomiR-221. A high-level expression of TRPS1 was significantly associated with a lower pathological stage, and TRPS1 overexpression strongly decreased miR-221 expression, while increasing the chondrogenic phenotype and markers of antioxidant defense and stemness. Additionally, TRPS1 was able to repress miR-221 expression by associating with its promoter and miR-221 negatively control TRPS1 expression by targeting the TRPS1-3'UTR gene. As a whole, these results suggest that, in IVD cells, a double-negative feedback loop between a potent chondrogenic differentiation suppressor (miR-221) and a regulator of axial skeleton development (TRPS1) exists. Our hypothesis is that the hostile degenerated IVD microenvironment may be counteracted by regenerative/reparative strategies aimed at maintaining or stimulating high levels of TRPS1 expression through inhibition of one of its negative regulators such as miR-221.
Keywords: TRPS1; intervertebral disc cells; intervertebral disc degeneration; miR-221.