Fibronectin Peptide Modified Hydrogels Activate a Contractile Phenotype in Nucleus Pulposus Cells.

ABSTRACT: Degenerative disc disease is strongly associated with low back pain, making it a leading cause of disability. With injury and age, cellular remodeling of the disc tissue leads to compositional changes, stiffening, and loss of stress relaxation, particularly in the central gelatinous nucleus pulposus (NP) region of the disc. As part of this extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, there is an increase in the deposition of fibronectin, a strongly adhesive integrin ligand that is known to regulate inflammatory signaling. However, it is unclear how these pathological changes in cellular adhesion regulate cell phenotype, and which domains of fibronectin are specifically involved. Here, a dextran vinyl sulfone (DexVS) hydrogel system is employed for presentation of specific fibronectin domains. Fi

SUBMITTER: Naha A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12323826 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature