Characteristics and potentials of stem cells derived from human degenerated nucleus pulposus: potential for regeneration of the intervertebral disc

• Published in: BMC musculoskeletal disorders Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 242 - 11
• Main Authors: Li, Xiao-Chuan, Tang, Yong, Wu, Jian-Hong, Yang, Pu-Shan, Wang, De-Li, Ruan, Di-Ke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 05.06.2017; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Back pain; Biological characteristics; Bone marrow; Care and treatment; Cell cycle; Cell Differentiation - physiology; Cell growth; Cell nucleus; Cell proliferation; Cell therapy; Cells, Cultured; Chondrocytes; Chondrogenesis; Degeneration; Endogenous repair; Female; Flow cytometry; Gene expression; Homeostasis; Humans; Intervertebral disc; Intervertebral Disc - pathology; Intervertebral Disc - physiology; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration - pathology; Intervertebral discs; Intervertebral disk displacement; Male; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - physiology; Mesenchyme; Middle Aged; Musculoskeletal diseases; Nuclei; Nucleus pulposus; Nucleus Pulposus - pathology; Nucleus Pulposus - physiology; Nucleus Pulposus - transplantation; Nucleus pulposus derived stem cells; Osteoblasts; Patients; Penicillin; Regeneration - physiology; Regenerative medicine; Stem cells; Stem Cells - pathology; Stem Cells - physiology; Tissue engineering; Umbilical cord; Cell therapy; Biological characteristics; Intervertebral disc; Endogenous repair; Nucleus pulposus derived stem cells
• ISSN: 1471-2474; 1471-2474
• DOI: 10.1186/s12891-017-1567-4

Eliminating the symptoms during treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is only a temporary solution that does not cure the underlying cause. A biological method to treat this disorder may be possible by the newly discovered nucleus pulposus derived stem cells (NPDCs). However, the uncertain characteristics and potential of NPDCs calls for a comprehensive study. In the present study, nucleus pulposus samples were obtained from 5 patients with IVDD undergoing discectomy procedure and NPDCs were harvested using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) by the co-expression of GD2 and Tie2 . After in vitro expansion, the properties of NPDCs were compared with those of bone marrow mesenchyme stem cells (BMSCs) from the same subjects. NPDCs performed similar properties in cell colony-forming ability, cell proliferation rate, cell cycle and stem cell gene expression similar to those of BMSCs. In addition, NPDCs could be differentiated into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes, and are found to be superior in chondrogenesis but inferior in adipocyte differentiation. NPDCs derived from the degenerated intervertebral disc still keep the regeneration ability similar to BMSCs. Besides, the superior capacity in chondrogenesis may provide a promising cell candidate for cell-based regenerative medicine and tissue engineering in IVDD.