Helena Evans

TL;DR: The intervertebral disc is a highly organized matrix laid down by relatively few cells in a specific manner that allows the discs to facilitate movement and flexibility within what would be an otherwise rigid spine.

TL;DR: The shape and size of the solutes were found to affect their transport through cartilage matrix, with larger molecules being more highly excluded and diffusing more slowly and long‐chain polymers were able to penetrate the matrix less readily than the more globular molecules.

TL;DR: Investigating patients treated with autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), some in conjunction with mosaicplasty, and developed objective, semiquantitative scoring schemes to monitor the repair tissue using MRI and histology indicate repair tissue to be on average 2.5 mm thick.

TL;DR: The appearance of glial fibrillary acidic protein–immunopositive cells in diseased intervertebral discs was closely associated with nerve ingrowth, suggesting that Schwann cells have a role to play in regulating disc innervation and nerve function in the disc.

TL;DR: Staining for chondroitin sulphate isomer epitopes was greater in human tissues of degenerate than non-degenerate appearance, which suggests that expression of these epitopes may be an indicator of disease and subsequent reparative procedures in intervertebral disc and cartilage endplate, similar to that seen in articular cartilage degeneration.