Mechanical stimulation is known to regulate the calcification of endplate chondrocytes. The ANK protein has a strong influence on anti-calcification by transports intracellular inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) to the extracellular. It is known that TGF-β1 is able to induced Ank gene expression and protect chondrocyte calcification. Intermittent cyclic mechanical tension (ICMT) could induce calcifi...

In adult muscle, transcription of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is restricted to the nuclei located at the neuromuscular junction. The N-box, a new promoter element, was identified recently and shown to contribute to this compartmentalized synaptic expression of the AChR delta- and epsilon-subunits. We demonstrate that the N-box mediates transcriptional activation in cultured myot...

Acetylcholine receptors (AChR) are organized in a discrete and predictable fashion in the postsynaptic regions of vertebrate skeletal muscle. When muscle is damaged, nerves and myofibers including muscular elements of the endplate degenerate, but the connective tissue elements survive. Muscle fibers regenerate within the basal lamina of the original myofiber. Postsynaptic differentiation in reg...

Intradiscal injections have been used for many years in the treatment of chronic pain. These injections consisted of many substances providing variable pain relief from discogenic pain. Following an intradiscal dextrose injection series, a physically active patient developed superior and inferior lumbar endplate fractures, producing a drastic increase in pain. The pathology of endplate fracture...

An electron microscopic study on the fine structural differences of motor endplates among the red, white and intermediate muscle fibers of the rat intercostal muscles was made and the following results were obtained. 1. In the motor endplate of the red fiber, the junctional folds were poorly developed and their number was small. 2. In the motor endplate of the white fiber, the junctional folds ...

Expression of adult-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction is thought to result from selective induction of their genes in endplate-associated nuclei due to local neurotrophic control. However, denervation studies indicate that endplate-specific expression can be maintained in the absence of the nerve. We investigated the role played by the basal lamina in this exp...

Endplate separations are defined as the presence of a space between the hyaline cartilage and the cortical bone of the adjacent vertebral body. This study evaluates endplate separations from the vertebral body and intervertebral discs and verifies if endplate separation is related to age and the spinal level. Groups were formed based on age (20-40 and 41-85 years old) and the vertebral segment ...

PURPOSE To evaluate position and function of antiglaucomatous Ahmed and Molteno shunts using magnetic resonance imaging with head and surface coils. METHODS Eight patients (5 males) with shunt implants were included, 4 with Ahmed (FP-7) and 4 with Molteno (s1, single plated). All patients were operated at least 6 months before imaging. In 3 cases (2 with Molteno and 1 with Ahmed shunt), the i...

INTRODUCTION: The intervertebral disc undergoes extensive age related degenerative changes. The mechanism for disc degeneration is multifactorial and many studies have proposed that decreased nutrition to the disc is a major contributor to the degeneration process. Because the adult disc nucleus is avascular, the only sources of nutrition are diffusion from the blood vessels of the annulus and ...