Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về y học được đăng trên tạp chí y học General Psychiatry cung cấp cho các bạn kiến thức về ngành y đề tài: Nucleus pulposus cells as competent phagocytes to clear apoptotic cells: mission applicable or impossible? | Available online http content 11 3 405 Letter Nucleus pulposus cells as competent phagocytes to clear apoptotic cells mission applicable or impossible Hai-Qiang Wang and Zhuo-Jing Luo Institute of Orthopaedics Xijing Hospital 17 Changle Western Road Fourth Military Medical University Xi an 710032 People s Republic of China Corresponding author Zhuo-Jing Luo zjluo@ Published 6 May 2009 Arthritis Research Therapy 2009 11 405 doi ar2647 This article is online at http content 11 3 405 2009 BioMed Central Ltd See related research by Jones et al. http content 10 4 R86 and related letter by Jones et al. http content 11 3 406 We have read with interest the research article by Philip Jones and colleagues in which they studied whether bovine nucleus pulposus NP cells were capable of behaving as phagocytes 1 . Collectively they drew the conclusion that disc cells clearly can undergo phagocytosis which has implications for the intervertebral disc in vivo. We would like to differ from the authors however regarding the implications of the role of NP cells in vivo in comparison with in vitro as competent phagocytes to ingest apoptotic cells. First NP cells cultured in vitro in a monolayer may not reflect the same physiological status as they showed in vivo. In fact the extracellular matrix of NP cells consists largely of water collagen type II and aggrecan 2 . The cell concentration within the disc is relatively sparse making up only about 1 of the disc volume. NP cells in vivo therefore distribute sparsely in the intervertebral disc with ample extracellular matrix surrounding. Intercellular communications might pointedly differ from those in cell culture conditions in which NP cells contact directly and closely. From this point of view it may appear an impossible mission for NP cells to clear apoptotic cells as phagocytes in vivo. Second the authors might have omitted .
