Expression of TGF-αand MMP-9 and its significance in the pulpy nucleus tissue of degenerated lumbar discs

Objective To investigate the expression and its significance of TGF-αand MMP-9 in human nucleus pulposus of the degenerated human intervertebral discs.Methods The simples were from the experimental group and the control group. One part was made as paraffin section,using IHC method to measure the protein expression of TGF-αand MMP-9.The other part was using RT-PCR to measure the expression of TGF-αand MMP-9mRNA.Results The results of RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining showed that there were stronger expressions of TGF-αand MMP-9 in experimental group than those in control group(protein level:t=29.114,P0.01;t=19.926,P0.01.mRNA level:t=47.642,P0.01;t=26.987, P0.01).There was certain positive correlation between the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-αand those of MMP-9 in experimental group(protein level:r=0.725,P0.01.mRNA level:r=0.684,P0.01).Conclusion There is significant difference in the expression level of TGF-αand MMP-9 between normal and degenerated lumbar disc.The effect of TGF-αon degenerated vertebral disc is correlate to MMP-9.