Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yuanliang Xia, Ruohan Yang, Yulin Hou, Hengyi Wang, Yuehong Li, Jianshu Zhu, Changfeng Fu
Summary: Intervertebral disc degeneration is a major cause of lower back pain, and current treatments have limitations. Cell therapy using extracellular vesicles shows potential for treating this condition.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Xinjie Wu, Wei Sun
Summary: This article provides an overview of the role of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (SC-EVs) in intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). SC-EVs have the potential to treat and diagnose IVDD through mechanisms such as inducing regenerative phenotypes, alleviating cell apoptosis, and modulating the immune response. The efficiency of SC-EVs can be enhanced by optimizing their preparation conditions and functionality.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Basanta Bhujel, Soon Shim Yang, Hwal Ran Kim, Sung Bum Kim, Byoung-Hyun Min, Byung Hyune Choi, Inbo Han
Summary: This study investigated the effectiveness of an engineered cartilage gel utilizing human fetal cartilage-derived progenitor cells (hFCPCs) on intervertebral disc repair in a rat tail nucleotomy model. The results showed that implantation of the cartilage gel promoted the repair of degenerative discs by increasing cellularity and matrix integrity, promoting reconstruction of nucleus pulposus, restoring disc hydration, and downregulating inflammatory cytokines and pain. These findings suggest that cartilage gel has greater therapeutic potential compared to cellular or ECM components alone.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Marcus Raudner, Markus M. Schreiner, Tom Hilbert, Tobias Kober, Michael Weber, Anna Szelenyi, Reinhard Windhager, Vladimir Juras, Siegfried Trattnig
Summary: The study evaluated GRAPPATINI, an accelerated T-2 mapping sequence that combines undersampling and model-based reconstruction to facilitate clinical implementation of T-2 mapping of the lumbar intervertebral disc. Results showed that T2 values obtained using GRAPPATINI were significantly different for normal discs compared to bulging or herniated discs, as well as discs with and without annular tears. The study concluded that GRAPPATINI can be used as a quantitative imaging biomarker to detect disc pathologies while significantly reducing acquisition time.
EUROPEAN RADIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Zhuang Zhu, Qifan Yu, Hanwen Li, Feng Han, Qianping Guo, Heng Sun, He Zhao, Zhengdong Tu, Zhuang Liu, Caihong Zhu, Bin Li
Summary: In this study, a new functionalization strategy using vanillin, a natural molecule with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, was proposed to develop multifunctional GelMA microspheres for local delivery of TGF83 towards IVDD treatment. The functionalized microspheres not only improved the release kinetics of TGF83, but also effectively inhibited inflammatory responses and promoted ECM secretion in NP cells. In vivo, the functionalized platform showed positive effects on inflammation and oxidative stress reduction, water content preservation, disc height maintenance, and tissue regeneration.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiuyuan Chen, Yucheng Ji, Fan Feng, Zude Liu, Lie Qian, Hongxing Shen, Lifeng Lao
Summary: The intervertebral disc (IVD) is essential for spinal flexibility. The protein CLEC3A supports the differentiation of chondrocytes and maintenance of NP cells, crucial for disc health. Mechanistic analysis reveals that CLEC3A stimulates the PI3K-AKT pathway to accelerate cell proliferation and NP cell regeneration.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Weikang Zhang, Yuhang Gong, Xiaohang Zheng, Jianxin Qiu, Ting Jiang, Lihua Chen, Fangying Lu, Xinhui Wu, Fengmin Cheng, Zhenghua Hong
Summary: PDGF-BB promotes extracellular matrix synthesis of NPCs and inhibits pyroptosis, participating in the inhibition of IDD through regulating the MAPK signaling pathway.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Integrative & Complementary Medicine
Chengguo Su, Xiaoyan Zhao, Jiangnan Ye, Xin Zhang, Yuqing Jiang, Junjie Guo, Xiyuan Zhang, Wenchuan Qi, Jun Zhu
Summary: Tuina can protect intervertebral discs from degeneration by inhibiting the TGF-31/Smad signaling pathway, reducing fibrotic response, and decreasing cell apoptosis.
JOURNAL OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Liwen Luo, Junfeng Gong, Zhouguang Wang, Yao Liu, Jiaming Cao, Jinghao Qin, Rui Zuo, Hongyu Zhang, Shuai Wang, Ping Zhao, Di Yang, Mengjie Zhang, Yanqiu Wang, Junfeng Zhang, Yue Zhou, Changqing Li, Bing Ni, Zhiqiang Tian, MingHan Liu
Summary: This study presents a novel and efficient non-invasive combinational strategy for treating IVDD by injecting ECM-Gels loaded with CESCs that express sustained release of functional exosomes.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Shengxu Zhu, Junlin Wang, Moran Suo, Huagui Huang, Xin Liu, Jinzuo Wang, Zhonghai Li
Summary: Low back pain caused by intervertebral disc degeneration is a global public health problem that significantly impacts patients' quality of life and imposes a huge economic burden on individuals and society. Current treatments cannot reverse or delay the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration. The emergence of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a biologic therapy offers new hope for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.
AGEING RESEARCH REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Bin Lv, Weikang Gan, Zhangrong Cheng, Juntao Wu, Yuhang Chen, Kangchen Zhao, Yukun Zhang
Summary: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a major cause of low back pain and disability, characterized by genetic and phenotypic changes. Recent studies have shown that GDF-5 plays a critical role in slowing down the progression of IDD and maintaining the structure and function of intervertebral discs.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xiaohong Tan, Era Jain, Marcos N. Barcellona, Evan Morris, Sydney Neal, Munish C. Gupta, Jacob M. Buchowski, Michael Kelly, Lori A. Setton, Nathaniel Huebsch
Summary: By engineering alginate hydrogels with integrin- and syndecan-binding peptides, higher cell viability, biosynthetic activity, and NP-specific protein expression were observed in human NP cells. This approach shows potential in restoring the juvenile phenotype of NP cells in degenerated intervertebral discs and may be beneficial for future NP cell-transplantation therapies for IVD degeneration.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Jeffrey Luo, Anjani Darai, Thanapat Pongkulapa, Brian Conley, Letao Yang, Inbo Han, Ki-Bum Lee
Summary: Intervertebral disc degeneration is a common cause of back pain and can lead to more serious conditions such as disc herniation and spinal stenosis. Traditional growth factor therapies have limited effectiveness in completely regenerating degenerated discs, thus there is a need for bioscaffolds. A new injectable bioorthogonal hydrogel, called BIOGEL, was developed using tetrazine-norbornene bioorthogonal ligation combined with gelatin. This BIOGEL showed promising results in promoting tissue repair and functional recovery in rat models of IVD degeneration.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Orthopedics
G. Chao-yang, C. Peng, Z. Hai-hong
Summary: This article summarizes the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the pathogenesis of IVDD and its application in treatment.
OSTEOARTHRITIS AND CARTILAGE
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Andrea Vernengo, Helen Bumann, Nadine Kluser, Astrid Soubrier, Amra Secerovic, Jan Gewiess, Jan Ulrich Jansen, Cornelia Neidlinger-Wilke, Hans-Joachim Wilke, Sibylle Grad
Summary: Chemonucleolysis is an established method for creating organ culture models of intervertebral disc degeneration. The effects of different enzymes used in chemonucleolysis need to be compared to gain a better understanding of how these models mimic human degeneration. The study induced chemonucleolysis in bovine IVDs and evaluated the cellular, biochemical, and histological properties after 7 days.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Chencheng Feng, Yaqing Zhang, Fanli Chong, Minghui Yang, Chang Liu, Libangxi Liu, Cong Huang, Chen Huang, Xiaoqing Feng, Xuan Wang, Tongwei Chu, Yue Zhou, Bo Huang
WORLD NEUROSURGERY
(2019)
Review
Oncology
Chang Liu, Minghui Yang, Libangxi Liu, Yang Zhang, Qi Zhu, Cong Huang, Hongwei Wang, Yaqing Zhang, Haiyin Li, Changqing Li, Bo Huang, Chencheng Feng, Yue Zhou
MOLECULAR MEDICINE REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Cell Biology
Chang Liu, Libangxi Liu, Minghui Yang, Bin Li, Jiarong Yi, Xuezheng Ai, Yang Zhang, Bo Huang, Changqing Li, Chencheng Feng, Yue Zhou
Article
Orthopedics
Yu Chen, Chunmei Luo, Juan Wang, Libangxi Liu, Bo Huang, Chang-Qing Li, Yue Zhou, Chencheng Feng
Summary: In this study, MIONM was found to be more effective and accurate than unimodal monitoring in assessing nerve root function during PE-TLIF surgeries, reducing both neurological complications and false-negative findings. Based on the results, MIONM is recommended for use in PE-TLIF surgeries.
BMC MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS
(2021)
Article
Orthopedics
Xue Leng, Yaqing Zhang, Guanzhong Wang, Libangxi Liu, Jiawei Fu, Minghui Yang, Yu Chen, Jiawei Yuan, Changqing Li, Yue Zhou, Chencheng Feng, Bo Huang
Summary: For patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery, a multimodal and evidence-based ERAS pathway can reduce length of stay (LOS) and cost, improve patient satisfaction, and decrease postoperative complications, without increasing the risk of 90-day readmission and reoperation.
BMC MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Guanzhong Wang, Jiang Long, Yong Zhuang, Xue Leng, Yaqing Zhang, Libangxi Liu, Jiawei Fu, Yu Chen, Changqing Li, Yue Zhou, Bo Huang, Chencheng Feng
Summary: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is an accurate and efficient method for identifying pathogens in spinal infections (SI). It has higher sensitivity and lower time cost compared to bacterial culture. The application of mNGS in SI diagnosis is significant and should be further explored.
Article
Orthopedics
Libangxi Liu, Yuyao Zhang, Jiawei Fu, Xuezheng Ai, Dan Long, Xue Leng, Yang Zhang, Bo Huang, Changqing Li, Yue Zhou, Chencheng Feng
Summary: This study revealed that Gli1 is gradually depleted in patients with intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD), and Gli1 depletion leads to oxidative stress and apoptosis of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells, accelerating the progression of IDD. Additionally, suppression of Fos can retard the destructive effects of Gli1 depletion on the intervertebral disc.
JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC TRANSLATION
(2023)