ArticleJournal of biomechanics2016
Do mechanical strain and TNF-α interact to amplify pro-inflammatory cytokine production in human annulus fibrosus cells?
Article in Journal of biomechanics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mechanobiology of the Human Intervertebral Disc: Systematic Review of the Literature and Future Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Pooled it
- NOX4 Regulates NLRP3 by Inhibiting the Ubiquitination of LRRC8A to Promote Ferroptosis in Nucleus Pulposus Cells.Inflammation · 2025Article
- The relationship between biomechanical factors and intervertebral disc degeneration: a review.American journal of translational research · 2025Review
- Regulatory effect of inflammatory mediators in spinal cord injury.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Myricetin Attenuates Ethylene Glycol-Induced Nephrolithiasis in Rats via Mitigating Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Markers.Applied biochemistry and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Review
- Combination of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy and platelet-rich plasma hydrogel injection for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
- Cytokine Imbalance as a Biomarker of Intervertebral Disk Degeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Regulatory Effect of Inflammatory Mediators in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.Mediators of inflammation · 2023Review
- Design of a flexing organ-chip to modelBiomicrofluidics · 2022Article
- Identification of miRNA-mRNA Pairs in Relation to TNF-Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Infliximab Can Improve Traumatic Brain Injury by Suppressing the Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Pathway.Molecular neurobiology · 2021Review
- Evidence-Based Network Modelling to Simulate Nucleus Pulposus Multicellular Activity in Different Nutritional and Pro-Inflammatory Environments.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2021Review
- Article
- Article
- Aberrant mechanosensing in injured intervertebral discs as a result of boundary-constraint disruption and residual-strain loss.Nature biomedical engineering · 2019Article
- Article
- Resveratrol inhibits IL-1β-mediated nucleus pulposus cell apoptosis through regulating the PI3K/Akt pathway.Bioscience reports · 2019Article
- Osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc degeneration: Quite different, quite similar.JOR spine · 2018Review
- Antiurolithiatic effect of the taraxasterol on ethylene glycol induced kidney calculi in male rats.Urolithiasis · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
During intervertebral disc (IVD) injury and degeneration, annulus fibrosus (AF) cells experience large mechanical strains in a pro-inflammatory milieu. We hypothesized that TNF-α, an initiator of IVD inflammation, modifies AF cell mechanobiology via cytoskeletal changes, and interacts with mechanical strain to enhance pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Human AF cells (N=5, Thompson grades 2-4) were stretched uniaxially on collagen-I coated chambers to 0%, 5% (physiological) or 15% (pathologic) strains at 0.5Hz for 24h under hypoxic conditions with or without TNF-α (10ng/mL). AF cells were treated with anti-TNF-α and anti-IL-6. ELISA assessed IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 production and immunocytochemistry measured F-actin, vinculin and α-tubulin in AF cells. TNF-α significantly increased AF cell pro-inflammatory cytokine production compared to basal conditions (IL-1β:2.0±1.4-84.0±77.3, IL-6:10.6±9.9-280.9±214.1, IL-8:23.9±26.0-5125.1±4170.8pg/ml for basal and TNF-α treatment, respectively) as expected, but mechanical strain did not. Pathologic strain in combination with TNF-α increased IL-1β, and IL-8 but not IL-6 production of AF cells. TNF-α treatment altered F-actin and α-tubulin in AF cells, suggestive of altered cytoskeletal stiffness. Anti-TNF-α (infliximab) significantly inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine production while anti-IL-6 (atlizumab) did not. In conclusion, TNF-α altered AF cell mechanobiology with cytoskeletal remodeling that potentially sensitized AF cells to mechanical strain and increased TNF-α-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Results suggest an interaction between TNF-α and mechanical strain and future mechanistic studies are required to validate these observations.
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Registered trials
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