Publications

Publications about Zetagen

Treating Multilevel Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease in a Patient With Stage IV Lung Cancer With Notable Comorbidities Using a Drug Eluting Biomaterial: A Case Report

Bryan S Margulies, Joe C Loy, Nikhil Thakur & Pedro Sanz-Altamira
A 64-year-old patient with stage IV non–small-cell lung carcinoma and several comorbidities, which include obesity and long-term smoking, was treated with N-allyl noroxymorphone eluting osteoinductive bone graft biomaterial.

Treating bone metastases with local therapy in a breast cancer patient resulted in decreased pain and prevented fracture

David Palma, Nikhil Thakur, Joe C Loy & Bryan S Margulies.
Here, we report the case of a stage IV breast cancer patient with multiple lytic metastatic lesions to the spine that were successfully treated, which led to a significant reduction in pain and increased quality of life. This outcome demonstrates that a locally administered therapeutic intervention may represent an important alternative for patients with bone metastases that warrants further study.

Antagonism of the Met5-enkephalin-opioid growth factor receptor-signaling axis promotes MSC to differentiate into osteoblasts

Nikhil A. Thakur, Sean D. DeBoyace, Bryan S. Margulies.
OPRD, OGFR, and the met5-ligand were highly expressed in MSC and osteoblasts. A pulse-dose of naloxone increased mineral formation in MSC cultures in contrast to MSC treated with continuous naloxone or OGFR deficient MSC. Importantly, SMAD1 and SMAD8/9 expression increased after a pulse dose of naloxone whereas SMAD1, SMAD7, and ID1 were increased in the OGFR deficient MSC.