The focus of the talk will be related to the mechanisms leading to painful IVD degeneration and Low back pain. I will discuss the role of senescent cell accumulation during tissue degeneration. Senolytic drugs, that selectively remove senescent IVD cells, reduce inflammatory mediators, and relieve pain in degenerating human IVDs and in SPARC null mice with back pain in vivo will be presented. Senescent cells are heterogeneous and a drawback of using a single senolytic agent is the failure to target multiple senescent anti-apoptotic pathways in the same cell type, or different cell populations within a target tissue. Data demonstrating a synergistic effect of combining senolytics, targeting multiple senescent anti-apoptotic pathways as potential treatment for low back pain will be discussed.
Lisbet Haglund is a basic scientist and a tenured Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Lisbet has a strong interest in musculoskeletal research spanning from tissue injury, degeneration, and inflammation to regenerative medicine, and she has been actively involved in bone, cartilage, and intervertebral disc research throughout her career. She has developed a research program aiming to enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to pain in spine pathology. More precisely, to develop molecular markers to follow disease state, progression, or effect of treatment, and most importantly to develop novel therapeutic interventions for painful spine conditions. Lisbet is a member of the McGill Scoliosis and Spine Group, and she is working closely with the clinical team. This has allowed her to generate an extensive cell and tissue bank of symptomatic (surgical) and non-symptomatic (organ donor) cells and tissues. Her research program is currently funded through the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), the Shriners Hospital for Children and the Arthritis Society.
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