The researchers prepared intervertebral discs with one of three isolating techniques and put them in free swelling organ culture. When the human intervertebral discs were isolated with intact cartilage end plates, they retained cell viability and didn’t experience matrix degeneration when cultured for four weeks on high and low nutrient levels.
If the cartilage endplates were removed before culture or if the bone was retained, there was cell death.
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