NIH R01 · 2025
mitochondrial DNA leakage promotes inflammation and intervertebral disc degeneration
Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration (IDD) is a major cause of low back pain, affecting 39% of American adults over the age of 18 and costing $87.6 billion in estimated healthcare expenditure. IDD is characterized by structural and functional deterioration, extracellular matrix degradation, oxidative stress, sterile inflammation, and impaired biomechanical function in the disc. Mitochondria are endosymbionts derived from bacteria and contain circular, double-stranded DNA with inflammatogenic unmethylated CpG motifs. Due to its prokaryotic nature, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that escapes into the cytosol is recognized as “foreign” by the cellular DNA sensing system, cyclic GMP AMP synthase…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.