Characterization of Mechanics and Cytocompatibility of Fibrin-Genipin Annulus Fibrosus Sealant with the Addition of Cell Adhesion Molecules

There is an unmet clinical need for a biomaterial sealant capable of repairing small annulus fibrosus (AF) defects. Causes of these defects include painful intervertebral disc herniations, microdiscectomy procedures, morbidity associated with needle puncture injury from discography, and future nucleus replacement procedures. This study describes the enhancements of a fibrin gel through genipin crosslinking (FibGen) and the addition of the cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), fibronectin and collagen. The gel's performance as a potential AF sealant is assessed using a series of in vitro tests. FibGen gels with CAMs had equivalent adhesive strength, gene expression, cytomorphology, and cell proliferation as fibrin alone. However, FibGen gels had enhanced material behaviors that were tunable to higher shear stiffness values and approximated human annulus tissue as compared with fibrin alone, were more dimensionally stable, and had a slower in vitro degradation rate. Cytomorphology of human AF cells cultured on FibGen gels exhibited increased elongation compared with fibrin alone, and the addition of CAMs to FibGen did not significantly affect elongation. This FibGen gel offers the promise of being used as a sealant material to repair small AF defects or to be used in combination with other biomaterials as an adhesive for larger defects.