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^* In Vitro Generated Intervertebral Discs: Toward Engineering Tissue Integration.

Jonathan Iu^1,2, Eric Massicotte³, Shu-Qiu Li³

¹1 Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto , Toronto, Canada .

Tissue Engineering. Part A

|May 10, 2017

Summary

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This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers engineered a functional intervertebral disc (IVD) in vitro, combining annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues. This engineered IVD demonstrated stable integration and potential for treating disc degeneration.

Area of Science:

Biomaterials Science
Tissue Engineering
Regenerative Medicine

Background:

Degenerative intervertebral disc (IVD) diseases cause chronic pain, with current treatments lacking full functional restoration.
Tissue engineering offers a promising approach for creating biological disc replacements by reconstructing IVD components.
Developing an integrated, functional IVD construct requires engineering both the annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

To generate an in vitro integrated model of the intervertebral disc (IVD).
To create multilamellated annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues and combine them.
To assess the mechanical stability and host integration of the engineered IVD model.

Main Methods:

Multilamellated AF tissues were fabricated using aligned nanofibrous scaffolds and AF cells.

Keywords:

annulus fibrosus bone substitute calcium polyphosphate large animal implantation nucleus pulposus polycarbonate urethane

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NP tissues were formed on a porous bone substitute material (calcium polyphosphate).

AF and NP tissues were co-cultured to create the IVD model, followed by in vivo implantation in bovine spines.

Main Results:

The engineered AF tissues exhibited a type I collagen-rich extracellular matrix (ECM), while NP tissues were rich in type II collagen and aggrecan.
Co-culture resulted in tissue integration, with immunofluorescence confirming collagen presence at the AF-NP interface.
Mechanical tests showed stable AF-NP integration, and in vivo implantation demonstrated intact interfaces and host tissue integration without inflammation.

Conclusions:

An in vitro engineered IVD implant with mechanically stable integration between AF lamellae and AF-NP tissues can be generated.
The engineered IVD model shows promising integration and stability, suggesting potential as a biological disc replacement.
Further research is needed to scale up the construct size and fully evaluate its efficacy for treating disc degeneration.