pulposus cells in medium with different serum concentrations

Background: The low proliferative viability of human nucleus pulposus(NP) cells is considered as a cause of intervertebral discs degeneration. Growth factors, such as TGF-β1 and IGF-1, have been implicated in cell proliferation and matrix synthesis. Objective: To investigate the dose-response and time-course effect of transforming growth factorβ1(TGF-β1) and insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1) on proliferation of NP cells. Study design: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) is reduced by dehydrogenase in mitochondria of live cells. The proliferative viability of cells corresponds to the amount of MTT reduced, which is measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay plate reader. In this study, we assessed dose- and time-dependent effects of NP cells to TGF-β1 and IGF-1 in medium with different serum concentrations by MTT assay. Methods: After release of informed consent, tissue samples of NP were obtained from anterior surgical procedures performed on five donors with idiopathic scoliosis. Isolated cells were cultured in F12 medium supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum(FBS). Cells were seeded in 96-well plates at 1 × 103 cells/well. After synchronization, medium was replaced by F12 containing 1 % o