Long-term treatment with senolytic drugs Dasatinib and Quercetin ameliorates age-dependent intervertebral disc degeneration in mice

Intervertebral disc degeneration is highly prevalent in the elderly population and is a leading cause of chronic back pain and disability. Studies have linked degenration with increased disc cell senescence. Likewise, senolytics such as Dasatinib + Quercetin combination may provide a novel approach to mitigate age-dependnt disc degeneration. We used microarrays to explore the transcriptomics of differentially expressed genes between aged disc compartments: AF vs NP at 23M, AF: D+Q vs Veh and NP: D+Q vs Veh. NP and AF tissue were dissected from lumbar discs from BL6 mice Vehicle (n=5) and D+Q treated mice (n=4). Mice were treated weekly with intraperitoneal injections of either Vehicle (1:2 PBS and 1:2 DMSO) or Dasatinib, 5 mg/kg (Sigma-Aldrich, CDS023389) plus Quercetin, 50 mg/kg (Sigma-Aldrich, Q4951) until they became 23-months-old. RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. disc compartment, treatment