ATG4A and intervertebral disk degenerative disorder: Thus, enhancing homoeostatic mechanisms in vivo has been proposed as an innovative approach to delay disc degeneration and lower IVDD risk.47,48 We found that ATG4a expression reduction, essential for autophagic vesicle formation and fusion,49 mediates impaired autophagy in IVDD-NPCs, while ATG4a overexpression activates autophagy, which in turn inhibits NPCs senescence.