XIST may act as a competitive endogenous RNA of MIRI-19, and XIST/MIRI-19/PTEN crosstalk reduces NPC viability, promotes NPC degeneration, and induces NPC autophagy in IVD tissues via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway inactivation, slowing IDD development (Chen W et al., 2021). Here, PTEN is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.