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Notes:
Volume 6, Issue 4 (Suppl)
J Spine, an open access journal
ISSN: 2165-7939
Page 70
July 24-26, 2017 Rome, Italy
&
Spine and Spinal Disorders
2
nd
International Conference on
Neurology and Neuromuscular Diseases
6
th
International Conference on
CO-ORGANIZED EVENT
Association of intervertebral disc degeneration with upregulated myofibroblastic activity in nucleus
pulposus
Lonoy Yan Peng, Fengjuan L V, Tiffany Y A U, Kathryn S Cheah, Kenneth M Cheung
and
Victor Y Leung
University of Hong Kong, China
I
ntervertebral disc (IVD) is a joint-like organ between two vertebral bodies throughout the spine. Nucleus pulposus (NP) is a
gelatinous core disc tissue, enriched with aggrecan to retain water and confer swelling pressure against compressive strains. Previous
studies have indicated an induction of fibrillated matrix in NP of degenerative IVD, displaying pathological fibrosis morphological
features and fissures. Disc degeneration is associated with enhanced myofibroblast activity in NP. Aim of this study is to test if disc
degeneration is associated with myofibroblast activity. Degenerative NP shows enhanced myofibroblastic cells activity. NP fibrosis
is a pathological phenotype in human degenerative IVD. Fibrocytes-like cells and resident NP cells with enhanced myofibroblastic
activity was evidenced in degenerative IVD, suggesting their importance in disc fibrosis. Better understanding molecular mechanisms
of orchestrating myofibroblast activity of fibrocyte and resident NP cell in degenerative disc would provide insights in developing
therapeutics in prevention of disc fibrosis.
Biography
Lonoy Yan Peng completed her Pediatric Residency/Chief Residency at Beijing Medical University Hospitals and practiced as a Pediatric Nephrologist for two years
at the same hospital. After a combined six years of basic research on kidney disease at Mayo Clinic, Rochester and UT-Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW),
Dallas, she went to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) for her Pathology Residency. Upon the completion, she took two fellowship trainings in Breast
and Gynecologic Pathology at UPMC and Cytopathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, respectively.
u3002479@connect.hku.hkLonoy Yan Peng et al., J Spine 2017, 6:4(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2165-7939-C1-005