Identification of Autophagy-related Genes Involved in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration by Microarray Data Analysis

Nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) survive in a hypoxic, acidic, nutrient-poor, and hypotonic microenvironment. Consequently, they maintain low proliferation and undergo autophagy to protect themselves from cellular stress. Therefore, we aimed to identify autophagy-related biomarkers involved in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) pathogenesis. Autophagy-related differentially expressed genes (ARDEGs) were derived from the intersection between the public GSE147383 microarray dataset to identify differentially expressed genes and online databases to identify autophagy-related genes. Furthermore, we assessed their biological functions with gene annotation and enrichment analysis in the Metscape portal. Then, the STRING database and Cytoscape software allowed inferring a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and identifying hub genes. In addition, to predict transcription factors that may regulate the hub genes, we used the GeneMANIA website. Finally, the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) prediction tools and Cytoscape were also used to construct an mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA network. 123 ARDEGs were identified, they were mainly involved in PI3K-Akt signaling, autophagy-animal, and apoptosis pathways. 9 were identified as hub genes (PTEN, MYC, CTNNB1, JUN, BECN1, ERBB2, FOXO3, ATM, and FN1) and 36 transcription factors were associated with them. Finally, an autophagy-associated ceRNA network was constructed based on the 9 hub genes. Nine hub genes were identified and a network of ceRNA associated with autophagy was established. They can be used as autophagy-related biomarkers of IDD and for further exploration.