Transcriptional profiling of the murine intervertebral disc and age-associated changes in the nucleus pulposus.

: The intervertebral disc (IVD) is composed of cell types whose subtle phenotypic differences allow for the formation of distinct tissues. The role of the nucleus pulposus (NP) in the initiation and progression of IVD degeneration is well established; however, the genes and pathways associated with NP degeneration are poorly characterized.: Using a genetic strategy for IVD lineage-specific fluorescent reporter expression to isolate cells, gene expression and bioinformatic analysis was conducted on the murine NP at 2.

Loss of ENT1 increases cell proliferation in the annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc.

Mice lacking equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (ENT1 ) demonstrate progressive calcification of spinal tissues including the annulus fibrosus (AF) of the intervertebral disc (IVD). We previously established ENT1 as the primary nucleoside transporter in the AF and demonstrated dysregulation of biomineralization pathways. To identify cellular pathways altered by loss of ENT1, we conducted microarray analysis of AF tissue from wild-type (WT) and ENT1 mice before calcification (2 months of age) and associated with calcification (6 months of age).