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AssigneeWarsaw Orthopedic, Inc.
InventorsWilliam F. McKay, Scott Boden, Sangwook T. Yoon
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Methods of expressing LIM mineralization protein in non-osseous mammalian cells, such as stem cells or intervertebral disc cells (e.g., cells of the annulus fibrosus, or cells of the nucleus pulposus) are described. The methods involve transfecting the cells with an isolated nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a LIM mineralization protein operably linked to a promoter. Transfection may be accomplished ex vivo or in vivo by direct injection of virus or naked DNA, or by a nonviral vector such as a plasmid. Expression of the LIM mineralization protein can stimulate proteoglycan and/or collagen production in cells capable of producing proteoglycyan and/or collagen. Methods for treating disc disease associated with trauma or disc degeneration are also described.
A method of increasing an amount of a proteoglycan produced by a cell in a mammal comprising transfecting an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a Human LIM Protein-1 (HLMP-1) protein into said cell in vivo by delivering the isolated nucleic acid sequence directly into an intervertebral disc of the mammal;
A method of increasing an amount of a proteoglycan produced by a cell in a mammal comprising transfecting an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a HLMP-1 protein into said cell ex vivo and implanting said transfected cell into an intervertebral disc of the mammal, wherein the isolated nucleic acid sequence is operably linked to a promoter, wherein said cell is selected from nucleus pulposus cells, annulus fibrosis cells and any combination thereof, and
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