title: Tumor necrosis factor-α: a key contributor to intervertebral disc degeneration.
abstract: Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration (IDD) is the most common cause leading to low back pain (LBP), which is a highly prevalent, costly, and crippling condition worldwide. Current treatments for IDD are limited to treat the symptoms and do not target the pathophysiology. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is one of the most potent pro-inflammatory cytokines and signals through its receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2. TNF-α is highly expressed in degenerative IVD tissues, and it is deeply involved in multiple pathological processes of disc degeneration, including matrix destruction, inflammatory responses, apoptosis, autophagy, and cell proliferation. Importantly, anti-TNF-α therapy has shown promise for mitigating disc degeneration and relieving LBP. In this review, following a brief description of TNF-α signal transduction, we mainly focus on the expression pattern and roles of TNF-α in IDD, and summarize the emerging progress regarding its inhibition as a promising biological therapeutic approach to disc degeneration and associated LBP. A better understanding will help to develop novel TNF-α-centered therapeutic interventions for degenerative disc disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Center, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Yiguo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand and Micro-surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Shujun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand and Micro-surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Yongxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand and Micro-surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, China wwwwjj167@qq.com.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D055959:Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
keywords: ECM; IDD; TNF-α; TNFR1; TNFR2