Table 1.

Summary table of studies to date with a primary focus on whole intervertebral disc tissue engineering

	AF composition	NP composition	Other components	Dimensions	Cell type used	Maturation strategy	In vivo evaluation	Outcomes measures
Mizuno et al, 2004, 200640, 41	Non‐woven polyglycolic acid mesh	Alginate	n/a	2 mm high, 10 mm diameter	Ovine NP and AF cells	Subcutaneous implantation for up to 16 weeks	n/a	Histology, biochemistry, compressive mechanics
Nesti et al, 200845	Electrospun poly(l‐lactic acid)	Hyaluronic acid	n/a	1 cm2	Human MSCs	Chemically defined media + TGF‐β1 for 28 days	n/a	Histology, biochemistry, PCR
Nerurkar et al, 201049	Electrospun poly (ε‐caprolactone)	2% agarose	n/a	3 mm high, 10 mm diameter	Bovine MSCs	Chemically defined media + TGF‐β3 for 6 weeks	n/a	Histology, biochemistry, compressive mechanics
Bowles et al, 201142,	Collagen	Alginate	n/a	2 mm high, 4 mm diameter	Ovine NP and AF cells	Serum containing media with ascorbic acid for 2 weeks	Rat tail disc space for 6 months	Histology, disc height, MRI, motion segment mechanics, biochemistry
Zhuang et al, 201143	Demineralized bone matrix gelatin	Collagen‐II/ hyaluronate/ chondroitin‐6‐sulfate	n/a	n/a	Lupine NP and AF cells	Subcutaneous implantation for up to 12 weeks	n/a	Histology, biochemistry
Lazebnik et al, 201147	Electrospun poly (ε‐caprolactone)	2% agarose	n/a	2 mm high, 8 mm diameter	Porcine articular chondrocytes	n/a	n/a	Cell viability, compressive mechanics, histology
Bowles et al, 201250	Collagen	Alginate	n/a	1 mm high, 3.23 mm anterior‐poster width, 3.8 mm lateral width	Ovine AF and NP cells	Serum containing media with ascorbic acid for 2 weeks	Rat lumbar disc space for 16 weeks	Histology, disc height
Park et al, 201244	Silk fibroin	Fibrin/hyaluronic acid	n/a	3 mm high, 8 mm diameter	Porcine articular chondrocytes and AF cells	Chemically defined media + TGF‐β1 for 4 weeks	n/a	Histology, cell viability, biochemistry, qPCR
Chik et al, 201452	Collagen	Collagen/GAG Co‐precipitate	Osteochondral bi‐layer of collagen and MSCs	10 mm high, 10 mm diameter	Lupine MSCs	Chemically defined media + TGF‐β1 for 21 days	n/a	Histology, cell viability, torsional mechanics
Xu et al, 201559	Decellularized bone matrix	Articular cartilage ECM	n/a	3 mm high, 10 mm diameter	Porcine NP and AF cells	n/a	Subcutaneous implantation for 6 weeks	Histology, cell viability, qPCR, compressive mechanics
Hudson et al, 201557	Collagen	Alginate	n/a	2 mm high, 4 mm diameter	Ovine NP and AF cells	Serum containing media with ascorbic acid +1 Hz compressive loading for 2 weeks	n/a	Histology, biochemistry, compressive mechanics
Hudson et al, 201557	Collagen	Alginate	n/a	2 mm high, 4 mm diameter	Human MSCs	Serum containing media with ascorbic acid + hypoxia (2% O2) for 4 weeks	n/a	Histology, biochemistry, compressive mechanics
Martin et al, 201751	Electrospun poly (ε‐caprolactone)	Methacrylated hyaluronic acid	n/a	2 mm high, 5 mm diameter	Bovine NP and AF cells	Serum containing media + ascorbic acid and TGF‐β3 and OR chemically defined media + TGF‐β3	Subcutaneous implantation for 5 weeks	Histology, MRI T2 mapping, biochemistry, cell metabolic activity
Iu et al, 201748, 66, 67	Electrospun polycarbonate urethane	Scaffold free	Calcium polyphosphate endplate	5 mm high, 10 mm diameter	Bovine NP and AF cells	Serum containing media with ascorbic acid for 2 weeks	Calf tail disc space for 4 weeks	Histology, biochemistry, interfacial shear strength
Moriguchi et al, 201758	Collagen	Alginate	n/a	3 mm high, 10 mm diameter	Canine NP and AF cells	Serum containing media with ascorbic acid for 2 weeks	Canine cervical disc space for 16 weeks	Histology, MRI T2 mapping, disc height
Martin et al, 201751	Electrospun poly (ε‐caprolactone)	Methacrylated hyaluronic acid	Poly (ε‐caprolactone) foam endplate	2–5 mm high, 5 mm diameter	Bovine NP and AF cells	Chemically defined media + TGF‐β3 for 5 weeks	Rat tail disc space for 5 weeks	Histology, biochemistry, compressive mechanics, MRI T2 mapping, μCT