Regeneration of biodisc using annulus fibrosus cell on hyaluronic acid loaded PLGA scaffold

Tissue engineering strategies have the potential to improve upon current techniques for intervertebral disc repair. However, determining a suitable biomaterial scaffold for disc regeneration is difficult due to the complex fibrocartilaginous structure of the tissue. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide)(PLGA) has controllable biodegradability and good biocompatibility. hyaluronic acid(HA) called natural moisturizer can be used as biomaterials. In this study, we evaluated 3-dimensional HA loaded PLGA scaffold on proliferation and phenotype maintenance of annulus fibrosus cells. HA/PLGA scaffolds were prepared by emulsion freeze-drying method. Annulus fibrosus cells were seeded in HA/PLGA scaffold, and then cell viability and proliferation analyzed by 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was assessed to measure mRNA expression for type II collagen, aggrecan and glycosaminoglycan(GAG) quantity from annulus fibrosus cells in scaffolds. In MTT assay result, cell viability in HA/PLGA scaffolds were higher than PLGA scaffolds. In addition, annulus fibrosus strongly expressed their specific mRNA and produced well sGAG in HA/PLGA scaffold. This result indicates that HA/PLGA scaffold is useful for intervertebral disc regeneration.