REVIEWS  TISSUE ENGINEERING 

Minerva Biotecnologica 2006 June;18(2):121-7

Copyright © 2006 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Stem cells in intervertebral disc tissue engineering

Risbud M. V.

Graduate Program in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Damaged or diseased intervertebral disc major cause morbidity and frequently leads to a significant reduction in the quality of life. Current tissue-engineering strategies for the regeneration of disc are mainly based on the restoration of pathologically altered tissue structure based on the transplantation of autologous tissue-derive cells or mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) along with supportive scaffolds and biomolecules. However, extensive capacity to proliferate in culture and plasticity of MSC give them an edge over differentiated tissue-derived disc cells. Increased understanding of the molecular mechanism directing lineage specification and morphogenesis of these cells into disc cell phenotype will provide a rational approach for the regeneration of disc.