Related Experiment Video For Nucleus pulposus mesenchymal stem cells (NPMSC)
Updated: Apr 8, 2026

Development and Evaluation of a Rat Model of Full-Thickness Cartilage Defects
Published on: May 19, 2023
The ability to form cartilage of NPMSC and BMSC in SD rats
Hui Zhang1, Xun Ma2, Li Zhang2
1Department of Orthopaedics Surgery, Second Hospital, Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi, China ; First Hospital, Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi, China ; Department of Orthopaedics Surgery, Da Yi Hospital, Shanxi Medical University Taiyuan 030032, Shanxi, China.
Objective:
In this study, we observed the difference in the ability of cartilage differentiation between nucleus pulposus mesenchymal stem cells (NPMSC) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC).
Methods:
NPMSC and BMSC were isolated from SD rats. Their proliferation abilities were detected by CCK-8 methods, their multilineage differentiation abilities were observed using Alizarin red staining, oil red O staining and Alcian Blue staining methods. The expression levels of osteogenic, adipogenic, chondrogenic genes were detected with RT-PCR and Western-blotting methods.
Results:
There was no obvious difference in the proliferation ability between NPMSC and BMSC cells. NPMSC and BMSC cells expressed stem cell genes and the surface markers and showed osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic multi-directional differentiation capability of cartilage under induction in vitro.
Conclusions:
We confirmed that NPMSC with characteristics of stem cells can be isolated and cultured from nucleus pulposus tissues of intervertebral disc of SD rats, the chondrogenic ability of NPMSC and BMSC was similar under induction in vitro. This could provide a new seed cells for tissue engineering.

