title: Animal models of disc degeneration and major genetic strategies.
abstract: The establishment of a reliable animal model of lumbar disc degeneration (AMDD) is important for studying pathogenesis and evaluating treatment effectiveness. However, an ideal AMDD for use in laboratory studies has not yet been produced. This retrospective study reviews and compares several common AMDD and discusses their strengths and weaknesses. We also suggest a new method for establishing future AMDD. The identified genes associated with disc degeneration are susceptibility genes, which elevate risk but do not necessarily lead to disease occurrence. We propose to identify families with hereditary disc degeneration, find major casual genes with exome sequencing, and establish transgenic animal models. This approach may help us to build an improved AMDD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China.
authors.forename: Fu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ji-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Yin-Gang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D055959:Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol