Intervertebral Disc Nucleus Pulposus Cells (NcP)

In mouse, notochord cells move from regions of the embryo containing the vertebral bodies and relocated to the intervertebral mesenchyme on E12.5-E15.5. The mechanism regulating this migration is unknown. There is a hypothesis that mechanical forces driven by the forming vertebrae bodies are responsible for pushing notochord cells into the intervertebral disc. These cells are highly vacuolated and disappear shortly after birth, replaced by fibrochondrocytic cells from adjacent annulus fibrosus.