Bioactive glass serves as a substrate for maintenance of phenotype of nucleus pulposus cells of the intervertebral disc.

The objective of the study was to investigate the capability of bioactive glass 45S5 to serve as a substrate for nucleus pulposus cells in vitro. Nucleus pulposus cells were isolated from adult rabbit discs and seeded onto bioactive glass. At selected time intervals, the cells and glass were evaluated. We found that the cells rapidly attached to the substrate, colonizing it within 12 h. By 21 days, they had formed a lawn of cells over the glass substrate. DNA measurements showed a progressive increase in cell number with time. The phenotype was maintained; the cells expressed aggrecan, and collagen type II and I, but were negative for collagen type X. CD44, a cell-surface glycoprotein that binds hyaluronate, was also expressed by these cells. Electron dispersive X-ray analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed calcium phosphate-rich layer formation on the substrate surface. The results of this study suggest that nucleus pulposus cell proliferation may be an anchorage dependent event, and that the cells use the calcium phosphate-rich layer to facilitate cell adhesion, and subsequent proliferation. These findings point to the importance of the conditioned bioactive glass as a substrate for nucleus pulposus cells.