Figure 9.

UTS2R⁺ ProNPs combined with tenascin‐C was a promising therapeutic to attenuate IDD. A) Diagram of the experiment outline displaying the time points and procedure of establishing the caudal spine injury model and transplanting rat UTS2R⁺ NP cells embedded with/without tenascin‐C (TNC). B,C) X‐ray scan and quantification revealing the caudal disc space and height between vehicle‐treated, TNC‐treated, UTS2R⁺ NP–transplanted, UTS2R⁺ NP cells embedded with TNC transplanted, and intact groups. D,E) Safranin O and Fast Green staining (D) and the Histologic Score (E) revealing the progress of injury‐induced IDD between vehicle‐treated, TNC‐treated, UTS2R⁺ NP–transplanted, UTS2R⁺ NP cells embedded with TNC transplanted, and intact groups. n = 3. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. ^* P < 0.05;^** P < 0.01; N.S., not significant as determined by ANOVA.