Intervertebral disc tissue engineering based on polymer materials: Research focus and hot spots / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the rapid development of tissue engineering technology provides a new idea for the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration; that is, biomaterials are used to reconstruct the damaged intervertebral disc structure. OBJECTIVE: To summarize polymer materials which are applicable for intervertebraltissue engineering construction, and overview the advantages, disadvantages and application progress of each material. METHODS: We searched related articles from inception to February 2020 in PubMed, Web of Science and CNKI databases with “polymer, intervertebral disc, tissue engineering, nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus” as English and Chinese key words. Initially 189 related articles were searched, and 109 eligible articles were included in final analysis according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Intervertebral disc is composed of inner soft nucleus pulposus and outer stiff annulus fibrosus. Accordingly, it requires two components with different structures and functions to reconstruct a complete intervertebral disc with tissue engineering method. Chitosan, alginate and hyaluronic acid are considered as optimal materials for nucleus pulposus construction because of their appropriate swelling character and ability of inducing cells to secrete nucleus pulposus matrix. Silk fibroin, collagen, polyethylene glycol, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid and polycaprolactone with high mechanical strength are suitable for annulus fibrosus construction to bear high loading burden. By further surface modification, these synthesis scaffolds wound show a better cellular compatibility and promote tissue integrity after in vivo implantation.