Scientific reportsMar 21, 2025

BMAL1 may reduce intervertebral disc breakdown by activating the SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway: evidence from lab studies

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 4, 2026

Abstract

Overexpression of BMAL1 in nucleus pulposus cells led to decreased apoptosis and inflammation while enhancing cell activity.

The expression levels of BMAL1, SIRT1, and PINK1 were evaluated in nucleus pulposus cells.
Activation of the was associated with improved characteristics of nucleus pulposus cells.
Increased BMAL1 expression resulted in reduced levels of apoptosis, inflammation, and reactive oxygen species.
Cell activity and density were enhanced following BMAL1 overexpression.
Mitophagy levels increased with the overexpression of BMAL1.

Simplified

To explore the potential effects and the corresponding mechanisms of brain and muscle arnt-like protein-1 (BMAL1) on the progression of (IVDD) in vitro studies. The expression of BMAL1, SIRT1 and PINK1 were evaluated by the method of siRNA/pcDNA in the immortalized nucleus pulposus (NP) cells. The expression of was assessed. The characteristics of NP cell, containing the activity and density, the level of apoptosis, inflammatory response, reactive oxygen species (ROS), senescence, and mitophagy were evaluated. The overexpression of BMAL1 was achieved with the pcDNA3.1, the expression of SIRT1 and PGC-1α were increased, the inflammatory response, the ROS, the level of apoptosis and senescence were decreased, however, the level of mitophagy, the activity and density of NP cell were enhanced. The BMAL1 inhibites the progression of IVDD by activating the SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway in the vitro studies.

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Competing interests

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Guidelines: All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Informed consent: This study did not involve human tissue samples or patient data. The research utilized commercially available cell lines obtained from iCell Bioscience Inc., which were ethically sourced and complied with relevant regulatory standards.

PubMed

BMAL1 may reduce intervertebral disc breakdown by activating the SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway: evidence from lab studies

Abstract

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