Soft tissue destruction and lower back pain

Date:
December 8, 2021
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Back pain affects many people at some point in their lives, and a
common cause is damage to the squishy discs or flexible, rubbery
tissues of the spine. However, observing this damage at an early
stage is difficult with current imaging methods. Now, researchers
report they can see microscopic soft tissue destruction in animal
spines by targeting denatured collagen with fluorescent molecules.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Back pain affects many people at some point in their lives, and a common
cause is damage to the squishy discs or flexible, rubbery tissues of
the spine.

However, observing this damage at an early stage is difficult with
current imaging methods. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano can
see microscopic soft tissue destruction in animal spines by targeting
denatured collagen with fluorescent molecules.


========================================================================== Anywhere along the spine, from the neck to tail bone, can become
uncomfortable when its soft and protective tissues, including the
cartilage and jelly-like intervertebral discs, become damaged and lose
their structure. Daily wear-and- tear, as well as some disorders, such
as facet joint osteoarthritis or ankylosing spondylitis, can degrade and
unfurl the collagen proteins that give these tissues their bounce and flexibility. Detecting compromised collagen early could help patients
get relief before the pain becomes severe, but this is very difficult
to do with existing medical technologies, such as X-rays and magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI). Previously, Yang Li and colleagues developed
a collagen hybridizing peptide (CHP) probe that specifically binds
unfurled collagen molecules, which happens when they deteriorate and
lose their ability to cushion vertebrae. So, Li, Kuibo Zhang, Hong Shan
and colleagues wanted to test if CHP labeled with fluorescent tags could
be used as an imaging method to identify collagen destruction in the body.

To make the peptide probe more stable in the body, the researchers
modified CHP by substituting a hydroxyl group with fluorine and
then attaching a fluorescent dye to it. When healthy mice and rats
were injected with the fluorescent dye- labeled CHP and imaged with near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF), the team could confirm that the
fluorescing molecules accumulated on the soft tissues between the
vertebrae. Then the researchers removed a portion of the animals' spines
and imaged them with light sheet fluorescence microscopy. This technique produced precise 3D maps, which revealed denatured collagen. Because CHP
is known to specifically target damaged collagen, the team says their
imaging experiments show that even healthy animals can have a modest
degree of deteriorated collagen around load-bearing joints, especially
in the lower back.

In additional experiments, both the NIRF images and 3D maps generated
with the new method detected collagen deterioration in animal models
of spinal injury before structural changes were visible in tissues on
MRI scans. Finally, the researchers applied dye-labeled CHP as a stain
to intervertebral disc slides from people that had undergone spinal
surgeries. The fluorescence intensity of the stain rose substantially
as the level of disc degeneration increased. Based on these results, the researchers say that their molecular-level technique could be developed
in clinical studies for earlier diagnosis and targeted therapeutic
treatments for patients with back pain.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lei Liu, Kui Huang, Wei Li, Rongmao Qiu, Yijie Fang, Yongjie
Huang, Suwen
Zhao, Hai Lv, Kuibo Zhang, Hong Shan, Yang Li. Molecular Imaging
of Collagen Destruction of the Spine. ACS Nano, 2021; DOI: 10.1021/
acsnano.1c07112 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211208123103.htm

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