Journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
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J Tissue Eng Regen Med · Dec 2012
Annulus fibrosus tissue engineering using lamellar silk scaffolds.
Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) represents a significant muscular skeletal disease. Recently, scaffolds composed of synthetic, natural and hybrid biomaterials have been investigated as options to restore the IVD; however, they lack the hallmark lamellar morphological features of annulus fibrosus (AF) tissue. The goal of regenerating the disc is to achieve anatomical morphology as well as restoration of mechanical and biological function. ⋯ The scaffolds were seeded with porcine AF cells and, after growth over defined time frames in vitro, histology, biochemical assays, mechanical testing and gene expression indicated that the lamellar scaffold generated results that were more favourable in terms of ECM expression and tissue function than the porous scaffold for AF tissue. Further, the seeded porcine AF cells supported the native shape of AF tissue in the lamellar silk scaffolds. The lamellar silk scaffolds were effective in the formation of AF-like tissue in vitro.