Poster Session - Orthopedic Regeneration: no. 91DMM 2011 entitled: Re-engineering Regenerative MedicineThe intervertebral disc (IVD) is a highly specialised environment, where cell, water and proteoglycan decrease is strongly associated with disc degeneration, which can lead to back pain. We postulate that the IVD niche is a major factor for IVD cell development and maintenance, and can play a role in progenitor differentiation to become disc cells. The understanding of how stem/progenitor cells develop into IVD cells could potentially facilitate the development of regenerative therapies for degenerated IVD. Here, we aim to introduce human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into the IVD environment using a model of decellularised bovine disc, and examine how the IVD niche impacts on phenotypic changes in vitro using …postprin
