The avascular nature of the human intervertebral disc is thought to reduce the ability of resident disc cells to maintain their extracellular matrix, rendering the tissue susceptible to degeneration. It has also been suggested that the lack of a blood supply may result in disc cell death via nutrient deprivation. Therefore transplanting new cells into the disc to promote tissue regeneration would be akin to ‘putting cells in a coffin’ and doomed to failure. This review considers the available evidence for cell death in the human intervertebral disc, describing briefly the methods used to assay such death, and concludes that further analysis is required to ascertain whether extensive cell death truly is a marked feature of human intervertebral discs and whether it bears any relationship to disc degeneration and hence regenerative strategies.
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August 2007
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Conference Article|
July 20 2007
‘Rumours of my death may have been greatly exaggerated’: a brief review of cell death in human intervertebral disc disease and implications for cell transplantation therapy
W.E.B. Johnson;
W.E.B. Johnson
1
*Centre for Spinal Studies, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 7AG, U.K.
†Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email Eustace.Johnson@rjah.nhs.uk).
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S. Roberts
S. Roberts
*Centre for Spinal Studies, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 7AG, U.K.
†Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
April 25 2007
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Biochemical Society
2007
Biochem Soc Trans (2007) 35 (4): 680–682.
Article history
Received:
April 25 2007
Citation
W.E.B. Johnson, S. Roberts; ‘Rumours of my death may have been greatly exaggerated’: a brief review of cell death in human intervertebral disc disease and implications for cell transplantation therapy. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2007; 35 (4): 680–682. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0350680
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