Role of Pyroptosis in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and Its Therapeutic Implications

Overview

Journal Biomolecules

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2022 Dec 23

PMID 36551232

Authors

Jieya Luo

Yuxuan Yang

Xuan Wang

Xingyu Chang

Songbo Fu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD), a progressive and multifactorial pathological process, is predominantly associated with low back pain and permanent disability. Pyroptosis is a type of lytic programmed cell death triggered by the activation of inflammasomes and caspases. Unlike apoptosis, pyroptosis is characterized by the rupture of the plasma membrane and the release of inflammatory mediators, accelerating the destruction of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Recent studies have shown that pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis in nucleus pulposus (NP) cells is activated in the progression of IDD. Furthermore, targeting pyroptosis in IDD demonstrates the excellent capacity of ECM remodeling and its anti-inflammatory properties, suggesting that pyroptosis is involved in the IDD process. In this review, we briefly summarize the molecular mechanism of pyroptosis and the pathogenesis of IDD. We also focus on the role of pyroptosis in the pathological progress of IDD and its targeted therapeutic application.

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