Identification of biological processes and signaling pathways in the stretched nucleus pulposus cells

Abstract

Low back pain is mostly caused by disc degeneration, which is due to the alterations in the osmotic pressure of nucleus pulposus cells. However, the knowledge about the mechanism and therapies for disc degeneration is not fully understood. Here, our objective is to identify significantly changed genes and biological processes in the stretched nucleus pulposus cells. The GSE175710 dataset was originally produced by using the Illumina HiSeq 4000 (Rattus norvegicus). The KEGG and GO analyses indicated that "MAPK signaling", "TNF signaling", "IL17 signaling", and the "NF-{kappa}B signaling pathway" are mostly affected in the stretched nucleus pulposus cells. Moreover, we identified several genes according to the PPI network such as Mmp9, Cxcl12, Col1a1, and Col3a1 in the stretched nucleus pulposus cells. Thus, our study provides further insights into the study of disc deterioration.