Novel immortal human cell lines reveal subpopulations in the nucleus pulposus

Table 1 Intervertebral disc donor characteristics and clones ^a

^aIVD, Intervertebral disc; L, Lumbar; N/A, Not applicable; NP, Nucleus pulposus; T, Thoracic. ^bAge in years at the time discs were obtained during surgery. Tissues were obtained from young adolescent scoliosis patients who had undergone correction surgery. In contrast to herniated or adult discs, these intervertebral discs showed no signs of degeneration; they had clear, lucid nuclei pulposi that could easily be distinguished from the annulus fibrosis. Each cell isolate (from donors D1 to D5) derived from AF and NP tissue excised at multiple adjacent levels, ranging from T6 to L4 as indicated, in a single individual. The total number of generated clones is indicated in column ‘Immortal NP clones’, and the amount of cobblestone (Cobbl), wavelike (Wave) and tiny clones is indicated in column ‘Clonal morphology’. Brachyury T (T) expression was measured in all primary isolates at the mRNA and protein levels; only D1 was found to be positive.

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