Melatonin benefits to the growth of human annulus fibrosus cells through inhibiting miR-106a-5p/ATG7 signaling pathway

Background Disc degeneration (DD) is one of the common diseases worldwide, which deeply influences normal life and leads to excruciating pain. However, an effective treatment for DD is still not identified.Method The present study systemically examined the effect of melatonin on annulus fibrosus (AF) cells of patients with DD.Results Melatonin had the effect of promoting proliferation, inducing autophagy, and suppressing apoptosis on AF cells of patients with DD. Moreover, melatonin contributed to the translation and transcription of autophagy-related protein ATG7 and inhibited the function of miR-106a-5p in AF cells. In addition, the results suggested that miR-106a-5p mediated the expression of ATG7 by directly binding to its 3′UTR in AF cells.Conclusion This research not only gained a deep insight of melatonin mode of action, but also indicated its potential target signaling pathway in AF cells.