Cartilage tissue possesses a limited regenerative potential and degeneration of the cartilage is a common problem following injury or with aging. This includes degeneration of the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral disc, which is a leading cause of lower back pain. Current therapies cannot restore the function of the disc. Regenerative medicine holds promise to address this, with previous work demonstrating promise for combinations of mesenchymal progenitor cells, biomaterial scaffolds and the bioactive, pentosan polysuphate to treat disc degeneration.

This study will develop a biomaterials scaffold system  and evaluate it’s potential to support chondrogenesis to treat intervertebral disc disease.