Description of cellular basis of spine repair

ESR14 Scoliosis a deviation of the normal line of the spine is one the main ecological threats to commercial fish farming Hence understanding what leads to malformations of the axial skeleton in fish is not only of scientific interest but also has considerable economical relevance The complete understanding of the underlying biology has been hampered by an inability to clearly identify the cells which are responsible for mineralizing the axial skeleton and by an inability to follow the dynamics of axial skeletogenesis at the level of gene expression We have recently shown that the extracellular Entpd5 an enzyme providing phosphate for the mineralization process is expressed in a segmental manner within chordoblastsnotochord sheath cells of the notochord Lleras Forero submitted and have furthermore demonstrated that these cells have the propensity to repair damage inflicted to the notochord Lopez Baez submitted Based on these findings it will now be possible to understand in detail how expression of Entpd5 is orchestrated by the embryo to form the larval axial skeleton during physiological conditions and to repair skeletal elements upon pathophysiological damage