Nanocarriers loaded with DNA relieve back pain, repairs damaged disk in mice

A team of researchers from The Ohio State University, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom have shown that gene therapy delivered by naturally derived nanocarriers repaired damaged disks in the spine of mice. The nanocarriers were engineered using mouse connective-tissue cells, called fibroblasts, and loaded with genetic material for a protein that is key to tissue development. The team injected a solution containing the nanocarriers into damaged disks in mice and noticed that their tissues plumped back up and became more stable. The findings speak to the value of using universal adult donor cells to create these extracellular vesicle therapies, the researchers said.