A Phenotypic Comparison of Proteoglycan Production of Intervertebral Disc Cells Isolated from Rats, Rabbits and Bovine Tails: Which Animal Model is Most Suitable to Study Tissue Engineering and Biological Repair of Human Disc Disorders?

在人类中，脊索细胞从NP中消失，并在青春期被软骨细胞所取代。然而，在一些物种（如大鼠和兔子）中，NP的脊索细胞会持续到成年。因此，比较脊索细胞和非脊索细胞的代谢活性被认为是确定用于移植再生椎间盘的细胞类型的重要因素。在这项研究中，我们在三维培养系统中研究了大鼠和兔的脊索NP细胞以及非脊索（软骨细胞样）牛NP细胞，以检查这三种细胞类型之间的蛋白多糖代谢是否存在差异。综上所述，本研究表明，脊索细胞和非脊索细胞在能量代谢和基质成分产生方面存在显著差异。

In humans, notochordal cells disappear from the NP and are replaced with chondrocytic cells by adolescence. However, notochordal cells of the NP persist into adult life in some species, such as rats and rabbits. Therefore, comparison of the metabolic activity of notochordal and non-notochordal cells is considered to be important for determining the type of cell to use for transplantation to regenerate intervertebral discs. In this study, we investigated the notochordal NP cells of rats and rabbits, as well as non-notochordal (chondrocyte-like) bovine NP cells, in a three-dimensional culture system to examine whether proteoglycan metabolism varied among these three cell types. In conclusion, this study demonstrated marked differences of energy metabolism and production of matrix components between notochordal and nonnotochordal NP cells.