Noncoding RNAs in human intervertebral disc degeneration: An integrated microarray study

Accumulating evidence indicates that noncoding RNAs play important roles in a multitude of biological processes. The striking findings of miRNAs (microRNAs) and lncRNAs (long noncoding RNAs) as members of noncoding RNAs open up an exciting era in the studies of gene regulation. More recently, the reports of circRNAs (circular RNAs) add fuel to the noncoding RNAs research. Human intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a main cause of low back pain as a disabling spinal disease. We have addressed the expression profiles if miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs in IDD (Wang et al., J Pathology, 2011 and Wan et al., Arthritis Res Ther, 2014). Furthermore, we thoroughly analysed noncoding RNAs, including miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs in IDD using the very same samples. Here we delineate in detail the contents of the aforementioned microarray analyses. Microarray and sample annotation data were deposited in GEO under accession number GSE67567 as SuperSeries. The integrated analyses of these noncoding RNAs will shed a novel light on coding-noncoding regulatory machinery.