Inhibition of EZH2 ameliorates cartilage endplate degeneration and attenuates the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration via demethylation of Sox-9.
In the treatment groups, NP tissue was aspirated from the L2-L3, L3-L4, and L4-L5 discs in accordance with a previously validated rabbit model of intervertebral disc degeneration and then treated with thermogelling chitosan (C/Gp), GFP-transduced autologous BMSCs with C/Gp or Sox9-transduced autologous BMSCs with C/Gp.
SIRT1 treatment significantly reduced aggrecan, Sox9 and collagen type 2 mRNA expression in a dose-dependent manner in all disease classes and disc degeneration grades.