Latest advances in intervertebral disc development and progenitor cells.

Abstract

This paper is a concise review aiming to assemble the most relevant topics presented by the authors at ORS-Philadelphia Spine Research Society <i>Fourth International Spine Research Symposium</i>. It centers on the latest advances in disc development, its main structural entities, and the populating cells, with emphasis on the advances in pivotal molecular pathways responsible for forming the intervertebral discs (IVD). The objective of finding and emphasizing pathways and mechanisms that function to control tissue formation is to identify and to explore modifications occurring during normal aging, disease, and tissue repair. Thus, to comprehend that the cellular and molecular basis of tissue degeneration are crucial in the study of the dynamic interplay that includes cell-cell communication, gene regulation, and growth factors required to form a healthy and functional tissue during normal development.