Fig. 3.

Cartoon depiction of the stages of somitogenesis and maturation of the intervertebral disc. Somites (lavender) become epithelialized to form the dermomyotome (red) and sclerotome. Cells of the sclerotome migrate from pairs of paraxial somites and condense around the notochord in a characteristic pattern of more or less condensed regions. These alternating regions (blue and lavender in the figure) give rise to the vertebral bodies and AF, respectively. The NP arises by a different developmental path by swelling in the region of the IVD and pinching off of the notochord in the vertebral bodies