Resveratrol attenuated TNF-α-induced MMP-3 expression in human nucleus pulposus cells by activating autophagy via AMPK/SIRT1 signaling pathway.

Resveratrol (RSV) is known to play a role of anti-TNF-α in a number of cell types. However, whether RSV modulates the effects of TNF-α on human nucleus pulposus (NP) cells is unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether RSV regulates TNF-α-induced matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) expression. Via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis, we found that MMP-3 expression induced by TNF-α was inhibited by RSV treatment. Depending on Western blot and qRT-PCR assay, we found that RSV induced autophagy in human NP cells, whereas inhibition of autophagy remarkably abolished the restraining role of RSV in the TNF-α-mediated up-regulation of MMP-3. Furthermore, RSV increased SIRT1 expression and SIRT1 knockdown significantly suppressed RSV-induced autophagy in NP cells. RSV also activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), while inhibition of AMPK notably abolished RSV-induced SIRT1 expression. Our data showed that RSV attenuated TNF-α-induced MMP-3 expression in human NP cells by activating autophagy via AMPK/SIRT1 signaling pathway. This new finding suggested that RSV might act as a novel preventive and therapeutic role in intervertebral disc degeneration.