Last updated on June 26th, 2023 at 04:12 pm
The potential therapeutic implications of a protein found in the backbone of zebrafish that plays a positive role in disc maintenance and promotes regeneration in aged discs between vertebrae could promote regeneration in degenerated human discs.
Many health concerns in humans are related to the degeneration of discs, including low back, neck, and appendage pain. Pain relievers and anti-inflammatories are currently the only available treatments for disc degeneration. Severe cases may require disc replacement or disc fusion surgery.
There is an urgent need to develop a treatment to either suppress disc degeneration or promote disc regeneration in humans. The stages of degenerating human discs have been revealed through medical examinations, however, the cellular and molecular processes playing a role in the discs’ maintenance are not well understood. No medical procedures or treatments have been known to suppress disc degeneration or induce disc regeneration, most importantly.
A protein called Cellular communication network factor 2a (Ccn2a), which is secreted from intervertebral disc cells, was discovered by a study from the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, to induce disc regeneration in aged degenerated discs by promoting cell proliferation and cell survival. This is done by modulating the pathway called the FGFR1-SHH (Fibroblast growth factor receptor-Sonic Hedgehog) pathway.
This is the first study in vivo to show that it is possible to induce disc regeneration in a degenerated disc by activating an endogenous signaling cascade using Zebrafish as a model organism. The scientists also found that the Ccn2a-FGFR1-SHH signaling cascade plays a positive role in disc maintenance and augmenting disc regeneration.
The study, which was published in the journal Development, used genetic and biochemical approaches and is likely to help design a novel strategy to suppress disc degeneration or induce disc regeneration in degenerated human discs.
