Core-shell oxygen-releasing fibers for annulus fibrosus repair in the intervertebral disc of rats

作者：Yi Zheng, Borui Xue, Bin Wei, Bing Xia, Shengyou Li, Xue Gao, Yiming Hao, Yitao Wei, Lingli Guo, Haining Wu, Yujie Yang, Xueli Gao, Beibei Yu, Yongfeng Zhang, Shijie Yang, Zhuojing Luo, Teng Ma, Jinghui Huang · 发表于：Materials Today Bio · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100535 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology、Shoulder Injury and Treatment、Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation

The repair of annulus fibrosus (AF) defect after discectomy in the intervertebral disc (IVD) has presented a challenge over the past decade. Hostile microenvironments in the IVD, including, compression and hypoxia, are critical issues that require special attention. Till date, little information is available on potential strategies to cope with the hypoxia dilemma in AF defect sites. In this study, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA) core-shell fibers were fabricated by coaxial electrospinning to construct oxygen-releasing scaffold for promoting endogenous repair in the AF after discectomy. We demonstrated that PFTBA fibers (10% chitosan, chitosan: PCL, 1:6) could release oxygen for up to 144 h. The oxygen released from PFTBA fibers was found to protect annulus fibrosus stem cells (AFSCs) from hypoxia-induced apoptosis. In addition, the PFTBA fibers were able to promote proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix (ECM) production in AFSCs under hypoxia, highlighting their therapeutic potential in AF defect repair. Subsequent in vivo studies demonstrated that oxygen-supplying fibers were capable of ameliorating disc degeneration after discectomy, which was evidenced by improved disc height and morphological integrity in rats with the oxygen-releasing scaffolds. Further transcriptome analysis indicated that differential expression genes (DEGs) were enriched in “oxygen transport” and “angiogenesis”, which likely contributed to their beneficial effect on endogenous AF regenerati...