Animal models of degeneration and therapy
Animal Models of disc degeneration are a powerful tool used to investigate the basic biological processes involved in disc degeneration and also to evaluate potential therapeutic treaments. Our lab is working with animal models in 3 areas:
- Biological Therapy: The mouse caudal disc has been shown to develop disc degeneration as a result of needle puncture injury, displaying changes in morphology, cellularity and biochemistry consistent with those in humans. We hypothesize that cells derived from the notochord of developing mice will repopulate the depleted nucleus pulposus cell population and restore disc function.
- Pediatric Spinal Deformity: Mucopolysaccharidosis type VII is a genetic disorder in which the cells' ability to turnover glycosaminoglycans is significantly impaired. Spinal deformity is a common and debilitating symptom of the disorder. We are investigating the links between altered biochemistry and gene expression, and biomechanical function in the lumbar and cervical spines, and testing the efficacy of novel gene-based therapies.
- Rodent Allografts: We are developing a rat tail allograft model to investigate the in vivo biological response to grafting and a rat tail autograft model toward establishing translation of tissue engineered disc into clinical setting.
