Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Nucleus Pulposus Cells In Vitro
- Author:
TAO FENGHUA
1
;
LI FENG
;
LI GUANGHUI
;
PAN FENG
Author Information
1. 华中科技大学同济医学院附属同济医院
- Keywords:
mesenchymal stem cells;
nucleus pulposus cells;
co-culture
- From:
Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Medical Sciences)
2008;28(2):156-158
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
To find a new source of seed cells for constructing tissue-engineered intervertebral disc, nucleus pulposus (NP) cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were isolated from New Zealand white rabbits. The nuclcus pulposus cells population was fluorescence-laelled and co-cultured with MSCs with or without direct contact. Morphological changes were observed every 12 h. Semi-quantitaive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was performed to assess the expression levels of Sox-9, aggreacan and type Ⅱ collagen every 24 h after the co-culture. MSCs treated with direct contact rounded up and presented a ring-like appearance. The expression of marker genes was significantly increased when cells were co-cultured with direct contact for 24 h. No significant change was found after coculture without direct contact. Co-culture of NP cells and MSCs with direct contact is a reliable method for generating large amount of NP cells used for cell-based tissue engineering therapy.
