The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2009;91:2205-2212.
doi:10.2106/JBJS.H.01344
© 2009 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Letters to the Editor: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Rights and Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shine, K. M.
Right arrow Articles by Spector, M.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shine, K. M.
Right arrow Articles by Spector, M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Basic Science
Right arrow Spine
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Facebook   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Lubricin Distribution in the Human Intervertebral Disc

Kristy M. Shine, MS1, Jacob A. Simson, BS2 and Myron Spector, PhD1

1 Tissue Engineering, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, MS 151, Boston, MA 02130. E-mail address for M. Spector: mspector{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu
2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Room 318, Clark Hall, Baltimore, MD 21218

Investigation performed at the VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts

Disclosure: In support of their research for or preparation of this work, one or more of the authors received, in any one year, outside funding or grants in excess of $10,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Science Foundation. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

Background: Previous studies have identified lubricin (also known as superficial zone protein) as a lubricating glycoprotein present in several musculoskeletal tissues including articular cartilage, meniscus, and tendon. In this immunohistochemical study, we determined the presence and distribution of lubricin in the cells, extracellular matrix, and tissue surfaces of human nucleus pulposus and anulus fibrosus tissues.

Methods: Twenty-eight human intervertebral discs were resected at autopsy from fourteen cadavers. Disc specimens were fixed in formalin, processed, and paraffin-embedded prior to sectioning. Tissue sections were immunohistochemically stained for lubricin, the extent of extracellular matrix staining was evaluated semiquantitatively, and cellular staining was assessed quantitatively with use of a survey method.

Results: Lubricin staining was evident in the extracellular matrix and at select surfaces of the nucleus pulposus and anulus fibrosus tissues. The extent of lubricin staining of the extracellular matrix was contingent on the disc region (nucleus pulposus, inner anulus fibrosus, or outer anulus fibrosus), with the greatest extent of matrix staining found in the nucleus pulposus, but it was not contingent on the Thompson grade. A subset of disc cells within the nucleus, inner anulus, and outer anulus also stained positively for lubricin, suggesting intrinsic cell synthesis of the glycoprotein. The disc region significantly affected the percentage of lubricin-staining cells, with the greatest percentage of cells staining for lubricin (nearly 10%) found in the nucleus pulposus. The percentage of cells staining for lubricin correlated with the extent of extracellular matrix staining for lubricin.

Conclusions: The results of this study confirm the presence of lubricin in the human intervertebral disc and demonstrate a unique distribution compared with that in the goat. The presence of lubricin in asymptomatic discs provides a foundation for future research regarding the role of lubricin in pathological disc conditions.

Clinical Relevance: The presence and distribution of lubricin in the human intervertebral disc, notably at the tissue surfaces, suggest that it may play a role in the tribology of the disc in health and/or disease.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?