Treatment and repair of diseased or otherwise damaged intervertebral disc will benefit hugely from IVD regeneration. There is therefore the need to develop methods to produce injectable tissue scaffold capable of enhancing IVD regeneration. Exposure of biological cells to pulsed electric fields (PEFs) and its effects has been extensively studied. The effects of PEFs on cells depends on pulse parameters such as pulse width, number of pulses and voltage. This study explores the potential of inducing cell death in the annulus fibrosus (AF) tissue while maintaining the structure and biomechanical properties using PEFs in an attempt to develop a natural scaffold. AF tissue was dissected from fresh bovine IVD and treated with PEF. The tissues were treated with 100 microsecond pulses, one set with single pulse and varying voltage from 500V to 900V and the other with multiple pulses from 10 to 100 pulses at 500V. Densities of live and dead cells in the tissue were compared after exposure using fluorescence under the confocal microscope. PEFs of 1-20 pulses caused minimal decrease in cell survival while live cells were decreased more than 50% by 50 pulses upward. Single pulses at 500V and 600V caused a decrease of less than 10% in live cells, while less than 50% decrease in cell survival was observed for higher voltages with single pulse. PEFs have a huge potential in tissue decellularization for scaffold creation for regenerative tissue engineering.<br/>Possible collaborators include but not limited to persons interested in decellularization of fibrocartilage with pulsed electric fields, annular repair of IVD and musculoskeletal pain treatment.

Characterization of PEF-induced cell death in annulus fibrosus tissue

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.