Cell charactetization in differnet regions of the native annulus fibrous in a porcine intervetebral disc model through cell sorting and molecular analysis

• Main Author: Teo, Tong
• Other Authors: Wang Dongan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Bioengineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68386
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Low back pain is a health issue worldwide. An estimated 84 % of people are forecasted to experience low back pain during their lifetime. The factors that lead to low back pain are complex, there has been more evidence that shows that intervertebral disc degeneration serves as a major contributor leading to the destabilization of the spinal motion segment hence resulting in pain and disability. Current treatments include conservative ones such as the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for short term relief and surgical ones such as spinal fusion to alleviate pain caused by IVD degeneration. Another solution is the use of replacement artificial prosthetic discs which has the ability to suffer from wear and tear , become unstable and hence increasing the risk of spinal cord damage. Hence, there is a need to tap on tissue engineering to build a biological constructs for the replacement of the degenerated tissue. However, the cell biology of the AF is still poorly understood especially the different cell types that exist within the AF. In this study, we will use cell sorting methods and carry out molecular analysis to find out more about the characteristics of the different regions of the native annulus fibrosus in the porcine intervertebral disc model.