No abstract

Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a cytokine recently shown to be elevated, along with interferon-␥ (IFN␥) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF␣), in degenerated and herniated intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues, suggesting a role for these cytokines in intervertebral disc disease. The objective of our study was to investigate the involvement of IL-17 and costimulants IFN␥ and TNF␣ in intervertebral disc pathology. Cells were isolated from anulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus tissues of patients undergoing surgery for intervertebral disc degeneration or scoliosis. The production of inflammatory mediators, nitric oxide (NOx), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), as well as intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) expression, were quantified for cultured cells following exposure to IL-17, IFN␥, and TNF␣. Intervertebral disc cells exposed to IL-17, IFN␥, or TNF␣ showed a remarkable increase in inflammatory mediator release and ICAM-1 expression (GLM and ANOVA, p < 0.05). Addition of IFN␥ or TNF␣ to IL-17 demonstrated a synergistic increase in inflammatory mediator release, and a marked increase in ICAM-1 expression. These findings suggest that IVD cells not only respond with a catabolic phenotype to IL-17 and costimulants IFN␥ and TNF␣, but also express surface ligands with consequent potential to recruit additional lymphocytes and immune cells to the IVD microenvironment. IL-17 may be an important regulator of inflammation in the IVD pathologies.

Intervertebral disc (IVD) disorders are believed to be related to aging-related cell loss and phenotypic changes, as well as biochemical and structural changes in the extracellular matrix of the nucleus pulposus (NP) region. Previously, we found that the laminin γ1 chain was more highly expressed in immature NP porcine tissues, in parallel with the expression pattern for a laminin receptor, integrin α6 subunit, as compared to adjacent anulus fibrosus region; suggesting that cell-matrix interactions may be unique to the immature NP. However, the identity of laminin isoforms specific to immature or mature NP tissues, their associated receptors and functional significance are still poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the zonal-specific expression of the laminin chains, receptors (i.e. integrins) and other binding proteins in immature tissue and isolated cells of rat, porcine and human intervertebral disc, towards the goal of revealing features of cellular environment and cell-matrix interactions in the immature NP. Results from both immuno-histochemical staining and flow cytometry analysis found that NP cells expressed higher levels of the laminin α5 chain, laminin receptors (integrin α3, α6, β4 subunit and CD239) and related binding proteins (CD151), as compared to cells from adjacent anulus fibrosus. These differences suggest that laminin interactions with NP cells are distinct from that of the anulus fibrosus, and that laminins may be important contributors to region-specific IVD biology. The revealed laminin isoforms, their receptors and related binding proteins may be used as distinguishing features of these immature NP cells in the intervertebral disc.

Previous study claimed that disc degeneration may be preceded by structure and matrix changes in the intervertebral disc (IVD) which coincide with the loss of distinct notochordally-derived nucleus pulposus (NP) cells. However the fate of notochordal cells and their molecular phenotype change during aging and degeneration in human are still unknown. In this study, a set of novel molecular phenotype markers of notochordal NP cells during aging and degeneration in human IVD tissue were revealed with immunostaining and flow cytometry. Furthermore, the potential of phenotype juvenilization and matrix regeneration of IVD cells in a laminin-rich pseudo-3D culture system were evaluated at day 28 by immunostaining, Safranin O and type II collagen staining. Immunostaining and flow cytometry demonstrated that transcriptional factor Brachyury T, neuronal-related proteins (brain abundant membrane attached signal protein 1, Basp1; Neurochondrin, Ncdn; Neuropilin, Nrp-1), CD24 and CD221 were expressed only in juvenile human NP tissue, which suggested that these proteins may be served as the notochordal NP cell markers. However, the increased expression of CD54 and CD166 with aging indicated that they might be referenced as the potential biomarker for disc degeneration. In addition, 3D culture maintained most of markers in juvenile NP, and rescued the expression of Basp1, Ncdn and Nrp 1 that disappeared in adult NP native tissue. These findings provided new insight into molecular profile that may be used to characterize the existence of a unique notochordal NP cells during aging and degeneration in human IVD cells, which will facilitate cell-based therapy for IVD regeneration.