INEB RECENT PUBLICATION: The effect of hyaluronan-based delivery of stromal cell-derived factor-1 on the recruitment of MSCs in degenerating intervertebral discs

INEB researchers have recently published an article in the scientific journal Biomaterials, resulting from a collaboration with the group of Dr. Mauro Alini and Dr. Sibylle Grad from the AO Research Institute in Davos, Switzerland. The article is available since 24 June 2014.

TITLE: The effect of hyaluronan-based delivery of stromal cell-derived factor-1 on the recruitment of MSCs in degenerating intervertebral discs

AUTHORS: Catarina Leite Pereira, Raquel M. Gonçalves, Marianna Peroglio, Girish Pattappa, Matteo D'Este, David Eglin, Mario A. Barbosa, Mauro Alini and Sibylle Grad

Intervertebral disc degeneration is the leading cause of low back pain and disability in the active population. Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in a hydrogel carrier can induce regenerative effects in degenerated IVDs. Moreover, it was found that degenerative discs release chemoattractants effective in MSC recruitment. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that an injectablehydrogel that can enhance the number of migrated MSCs in the IVD and provide a suitable matrix for their survival and differentiation would be ideal. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of a thermoreversible hyaluronan-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (HAP) hydrogel as chemoattractant delivery system to recruit human MSCs in degenerative IVDs. The results demonstrate that HAP hydrogels containing stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1) significantly increased the number of MSCs migrating into nucleotomized discs compared with discs treated with only HAP or SDF-1 in solution. HAP hydrogels releasing SDF-1 enhanced both the number of recruited cells and their migration distance in the IVD tissue. Furthermore, this phenomenon was dependent on MSC donor age. In conclusion, HAP SDF-1 is effective for the recruitment of stem cells in the IVD, thus opening new possibilities for the development of regenerative therapies based on endogenous cell migration.

ARTICLE: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961214006930