2. Academic Validation
  3. Vasorin-containing small extracellular vesicles retard intervertebral disc degeneration utilizing an injectable thermoresponsive delivery system

Vasorin-containing small extracellular vesicles retard intervertebral disc degeneration utilizing an injectable thermoresponsive delivery system

  • J Nanobiotechnology. 2022 Sep 19;20(1):420. doi: 10.1186/s12951-022-01624-1.
Zhiwei Liao  # 1,  Wencan Ke  # 1,  Hui Liu  # 1,  Bide Tong  # 1,  Kun Wang 1,  Xiaobo Feng 1,  Wenbin Hua 1,  Bingjin Wang 1,  Yu Song 1,  Rongjin Luo 1,  Huaizhen Liang 1,  Weifeng Zhang 1,  Kangcheng Zhao 2,  Shuai Li 3,  Cao Yang 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
  • 2 Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China. [email protected].
  • 3 Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China. [email protected].
  • 4 Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 36123708 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01624-1
Abstract

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is the pathological reason of back pain and the therapeutic approaches are still unsatisfactory. Recently, mesenchymal stem cell-derived small extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as the novel regenerative method for IDD. In this study, we intensively investigated the therapeutic mechanism of small EVs, and found that vasorin protein enriched in EVs promoted the proliferation and extracellular matrix anabolism of nucleus pulposus cells via the Notch1 signaling pathway. Then, we fabricated a thermoresponsive gel which composed of Pluronic F127 and decellularized extracellular matrix (FEC) for the delivery and sustained release of EVs. Besides, ex vivo and in vivo results showed that EVs embedded in FEC (EVs@FEC) ameliorate the disc degeneration efficiently and achieve better therapeutic effects than one-off EVs delivery. Collectively, these findings deepen the understanding of EVs mechanism in treating intervertebral disc degeneration, and also illustrate the promising capacity of sustained EVs release system for intervertebral disc regeneration.

Keywords

Decellularized extracellular matrix; Extracellular vesicles; Intervertebral disc degeneration; Nucleus pulposus; Thermoresponsive hydrogel.

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