ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, Medical Faculty, University of Bern, Stauffacherstrasse 78, 3014, Bern, Switzerland.
Eur Spine J. 2012 Aug;21 Suppl 6(Suppl 6):S819-25. doi: 10.1007/s00586-011-2026-9. Epub 2011 Sep 28.
Notochordal cells and nucleus pulposus cells are co-existing in the intervertebral disc at various ratios among different mammalians. This fact rises the question about the interactions and the evolutionary relevance of this phenomenon. It has been described that these relatively large notochordal cells are mainly dominant in early lifetime of all vertebrates and then differences occur with ageing. Human, cattle, sheep, and goat lose the cells with age, whereas rodents and lagomorphs maintain these throughout their lifetime.
Here, we addressed the importance of cell ratio using alginate bead 3-D co-culture of bovine nucleus pulposus cells (bNPC) and porcine notochordal cells (pNCs) for 14 days using culture inserts.
We found a significant stimulation of bNPC in the presence of pNC in terms of cell activity and glycosaminoglycan production, but not for proliferation (DNA content). Relative gene expression was significantly stimulated for collagen type 2 and aggrecan.
The stimulating effect of NC was confirmed and the ideal ratio of NPC: NC was found to be ~50:50. This has direct implications for tissue-engineering approaches, which aim to repopulate discs with NP-like precursor cells.
在不同哺乳动物的椎间盘内，脊索细胞和髓核细胞以不同的比例共存。这一事实引发了关于这种现象的相互作用和进化相关性的问题。已经描述过，这些相对较大的脊索细胞主要在所有脊椎动物的早期生命中占主导地位，然后随着年龄的增长而出现差异。人类、牛、绵羊和山羊随着年龄的增长失去了这些细胞，而啮齿动物和兔形目动物则终生保持这些细胞。
在这里，我们使用培养插入物，通过牛髓核细胞（bNPC）和猪脊索细胞（pNC）的海藻酸钠珠 3-D 共培养，在 14 天内研究细胞比例的重要性。
我们发现，在存在 pNC 的情况下，bNPC 的细胞活性和糖胺聚糖产生显著增加，但增殖（DNA 含量）没有增加。相对基因表达显著促进了 2 型胶原和聚集蛋白聚糖。
证实了 NC 的刺激作用，并发现 NPC：NC 的理想比例约为 50:50。这对旨在用 NP 样前体细胞重新填充椎间盘的组织工程方法有直接影响。
