Given that notochordal-cell implantation has been proposed as a promising cell-based therapeutic method for repairing disc degeneration, and CD24 has been proven to be a specific marker of notochordal cells, we set out to investigate the suitability of CD24 for notochordal-cell isolation and to determine whether CD24-positive NP cells have significant functional relevance to disc degeneration. Here, CD24 is linked to intervertebral disk degenerative disorder.