Disc4All New Publications

  • No evidence of association between either Modic change or disc degeneration and five circulating inflammatory proteins

    Abstract Introduction Intervertebral disc degeneration and Modic change are the main spinal structural changes associated with chronic low back pain (LBP). Both conditions are thought to manifest local inflammation and if inflammatory proteins translocate to the blood circulation could be detected systemically. The work here assesses whether the presence of disc degeneration is associated with detectable blood level changes of five inflammatory markers and whether chronic LBP is associated with these changes.

    Roger Compte, Maxim B. Freidin, Isabelle Granville Smith, Christine L. Le Maitre, Dovile Vaitkute, Ayrun Nessa, Genevieve Lachance, Frances M. K. Williams

  • PREDICTING GENE DISEASE ASSOCIATIONS WITH KNOWLEDGE GRAPH EMBEDDINGS FOR DISEASES WITH CURTAILED INFORMATION

    Francesco Gualdi, Baldomero Oliva, Janet Piñero

  • Semi-automatic Assessment of Facet Tropism from Lumbar Spine MRI using Deep Learning: A Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study

    Kowlagi, Narasimharao Msca; Kemppainen, Antti PhDb; Panfilov, Egor Msca; McSweeney, Terence MSca; Saarakkala, Simo PhDa,b; Nevalainen, Mika MD, PhDa,b; Niinimäki, Jaakko MD, PhDb; Karppinen, Jaro MD, PhDa,c; Tiulpin, Aleksei PhDa,d

  • The Interplay between Biochemical Mediators and Mechanotransduction in Chondrocytes: Unravelling the Differential Responses in Primary Knee Osteoarthritis

    Maria Segarra-Queralt, Katherine Crump, Andreu Pascuet-Fontanet, Benjamin Gantenbein, Jérôme Noailly

  • Modic change is associated with increased BMI but not autoimmune diseases in TwinsUK

    Francesco Gualdi, Isabelle Granville Smith, Roger Compte Boixader & Frances M. K. Williams

  • Proximal Junction Failure in Spine Surgery: Integrating Geometrical and Biomechanical Global Descriptors Improves GAP Score-Based Assessment

  • External Validation of SpineNet, an Open-Source Deep Learning Model for Grading Lumbar Disk Degeneration MRI Features, Using the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

    McSweeney, Terence P. MSca,b; Tiulpin, Aleksei PhDa,b; Saarakkala, Simo PhDa,b,c; Niinimäki, Jaakko MD, PhDa,b,c; Windsor, Rhydian MScd; Jamaludin, Amir PhDd; Kadir, Timor PhDd,e; Karppinen, Jaro MD, PhDa,b,f; Määttä, Juhani MD, PhD

  • Inhibition of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway reduces the inflammatory component in nucleus pulposus cells

    Adel Tekari, Alessandro Marazza, Katherine Crump, Paola Bermudez-Lekerika, Benjamin Gantenbein

  • Sulfated Hydrogels in Intervertebral Disc and Cartilage Research

    Emily Lazarus, Paola Bermudez-Lekerika, Daniel Farchione, Taylor Schofield, Sloan Howard, Iskender Mambetkadyrov, Mikkael Lamoca, Iris V. Rivero, Benjamin Gantenbein, Christopher L. Lewis, Karin Wuertz-Kozak

  • Evidence-Based Network Modelling to Simulate Nucleus Pulposus Multicellular Activity in Different Nutritional and Pro-Inflammatory Environments

    L. Baumgartner, A. Sadowska, L , M. A. González Ballester, K. Wuertz-Kozak and J. Noailly

  • Non-viral Gene Delivery Methods for Bone and Joints

    Gantenbein B, Tang S, Guerrero J, Higuita-Castro N, Salazar-Puerta AI, Croft AS, Gazdhar A, Purmessur D

    Front Bioeng Biotechnol 8: 1320

  • EGR2, IGF1 and IL6 Expression Are Elevated in the Intervertebral Disc of Patients Suffering from Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) Compared to Degenerative or Trauma Discs

    Gantenbein B, May RD, Bermudez-Lekerika P, Oswald KAC, Benneker LM, Albers CE

    Applied Sciences 11(9)

  • Multiscale Regulation of the Intervertebral Disc: Achievements in Experimental, In Silico, and Regenerative Research

    Baumgartner, L. et al.

    Int. J. Mol. Sci. 22, 703

  • Simulating intervertebral disc cell behaviour within 3D multifactorial environments. Bioinformatics

    Baumgartner, L., Reagh, J. J., González Ballester, M. A. & Noailly, J.

Disc4All Background

LDD and LBP Cohort studies

  • Endplate Defect Is Heritable, Associated With Low Back Pain and Triggers Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: A Longitudinal Study From TwinsUK

    Munir, S. et al.

    Spine (Phila. Pa. 1976). 43, 1496–1501

  • Strong association between vertebral endplate defect and Modic change in the general population

    Määttä, J. H. et al.

    Sci. Rep.8, 1–8

  • Intervertebral Disc Biology: Genetic Basis of Disc Degeneration

    Munir, S., Rade, M., Määttä, J. H., Freidin, M. B. & Williams, F. M. K.

    Curr. Mol. Biol. Reports 4, 143–150

  • What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention

    Hartvigsen, J. et al.

    Lancet (London, England) 391, 2356–2367

  • Body mass index is associated with lumbar disc degeneration in young Finnish males: subsample of Northern Finland birth cohort study 1986.

    Takatalo, J. et al.

    BMC Musculoskelet. Disord. 14, 87

  • Novel genetic variants associated with lumbar disc degeneration in northern Europeans: A meta-analysis of 4600 subjects

    Williams, F. M. K. et al.

    Ann. Rheum. Dis. 72, 1141–1148

  • Gender difference in genetic association between IL1A variant and early lumbar disc degeneration: A three-year follow-up

    Eskola, P. J. et al.

    Int. J. Mol. Epidemiol. Genet. 3, 195–204

  • Lumbar disc degeneration and genetic factors are the main risk factors for low back pain in women: The UK Twin Spine Study

    Livshits, G. et al.

    Ann. Rheum. Dis. 70, 1740–1745

  • Genetic susceptibility of intervertebral disc degeneration among young Finnish adults

    Kelempisioti, A. et al.

    BMC Med. Genet.12, 153

  • GDF5 single-nucleotide polymorphism rs143383 is associated with lumbar disc degeneration in Northern European women

    Williams, F. M. K. et al.

    Arthritis Rheum. 63, 708–712

  • Neck and back pain and intervertebral disc degeneration: role of occupational factors

    Williams, F. M. K. & Sambrook, P. N.

    Best Pract. Res. Clin. Rheumatol. 25, 69–79

  • Prevalence of degenerative imaging findings in lumbar magnetic resonance imaging among young adults

    Takatalo, J. et al.

    Spine (Phila. Pa. 1976). 34, 1716–21

  • Modic changes and interleukin 1 gene locus polymorphisms in occupational cohort of middle-aged men

    Karppinen, J. et al.

    Eur. Spine J. 18, 1963–1970

  • Genetic factors are associated with modic changes in endplates of lumbar vertebral bodies

    Karppinen, J. et al.

    Spine (Phila. Pa. 1976). 33, 1236–41

IVD Biology & Experimental models

  • Towards Self‐Regulated Bioprocessing: A Compact Benchtop Bioreactor System for Monitored and Controlled 3D Cell and Tissue Culture

    Bournonville, S. et al.

    Biotechnol. J. 14, 1800545

  • TRPC6 in simulated microgravity of intervertebral disc cells

    Franco-Obregón A, Cambria E, Greutert H, Wernas T, Egli M, Sekiguchi M, Boos N, Hausmann ON, Ferguson SJ, Kobayashi H, Wuertz-Kozak K

    Eur Spine J., 2018 Oct;27(10):2621-2630

  • p38 MAPK facilitates crosstalk between endoplasmic reticulum stress and IL-6 release in the intervertebral disc

    Krupkova O, Sadowska A, Kameda T, Hausmann O, Klasen J, Wuertz-Kozak K

    Frontiers in Immunology, 2018 Aug 17;9:1706

  • A photopolymerized Poly-Ethlyene-Glycol composite hydrogel and surgical implanting tool for a nucleus pulposus replacement

    Schmocker AM, Khoushabi A, Frauchiger DA, Gantenbein B, Schizas C, Moser C, Bourban P-E, Pioletti D

    Biomaterials 88110-119 doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.02.015.

  • Angiopoietin-1 receptor Tie2 distinguishes multipotent differentiation capability in bovine coccygeal nucleus pulposus cells

    Tekari, A., Chan, S. C. W., Sakai, D., Grad, S., & Gantenbein, B.

    Stem Cell Res Ther, 7(1), 75

  • Osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells is hindered by the presence of intervertebral disc cells

    Chan, S. C. W., Tekari, A., Benneker, L. M., Heini, P. F., & Gantenbein, B

    Arthritis Res Ther, 18(1), 29

  • Potential Roles of Cytokines and Chemokines in Human Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Interleukin-1 is a Master Regulator of catabolic processes

    Phillips KLE, Chiverton N, Michael ALR, Cole AA, Breakwell LM, Haddock G, Bunning RAD, Cross AK, Le Maitre CL

    Osteoarthritis and cartilage. 23(7):1165-77

  • Organ Culture Bioreactors – Platforms to Study Human Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and Regenerative Therapy

    Gantenbein B, Illien-Jünger S, Chan SC, Walser J, Haglund L, Ferguson SJ, Iatridis JC, Grad S

    Curr Stem Cell Res Ther 10(4):339-352

  • Expression and regulation of neurotrophic and angiogenic factors during human intervertebral disc degeneration

    Binch ALA, Cole AA, Breakwell LM, Michael ALR, Chiverton N, Cross AK, Le Maitre CL

    Arthritis Research and Therapy. 16(5): 416

  • Region specific response of the intervertebral disc cells to complex dynamic loading (2013) An organ culture study using a bi-axial loading bioreactor

    Chan SC, Walser J, Käppeli P, Shamsollahi M, Ferguson SJ, Gantenbein-Ritter B

    PLoS ONE 2013; 8:e72489

  • Inflammatory Mediators in Intervertebral Disk Degeneration and Discogenic Pain

    Wuertz, K. & Haglund, L

    Glob. Spine J. 3, 175–184

  • The Cytokine and chemokine expression profile of nucleus pulposus cells: implications for degeneration and regeneration of the Intervertebral disc

    Phillips KLE, Chiverton N, Michael ALR, Cole AA, Breakwell LM, Haddock G, Bunning RAD, Cross AK, Le Maitre CL

    Arthritis Research and Therapy. 15: R213

  • In vivo remodeling of intervertebral discs in response to short- and long-term dynamic compression

    Wuertz K, Godburn K, MacLean JJ, Barbir A, Donnelly JS, Roughley PJ, Alini M, Iatridis JC

    J Orthop Res. 2009 Sep;27(9):1235-42

  • Altered integrin mechanotransduction in human nucleus pulposus cells derived from degenerated discs

    Le Maitre, C. L. et al

    Arthritis Rheum. 60, 460–469

  • The Role of Interleukin 1 (IL-1) in the pathogenesis of human Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration

    Le Maitre CL, Freemont AJ, Hoyland JA

    Arthritis Research and Therapy.7: R732-R745

Models & Simulations

  • Simulating intervertebral disc cell behavior within 3D multifactorial environments

    Baumgartner, L., Reagh, J. J., González Ballester, M. A. & Noailly, J.

    bioRxiv (2019) doi:10.1101/2019.12.23.886887

  • ECHO, the executable CHOndrocyte: A computational model to study articular chondrocytes in healthy and disease

    Schivo, S. et al

    Cell. Signal. 109471 (2019) doi:10.1016/j.cellsig.2019.109471

  • Network-based technologies for early drug discovery

    Fotis, C., Antoranz, A., Hatziavramidis, D., Sakellaropoulos, T. & Alexopoulos, L. G

    Drug Discov. Today 23, 626–635

  • Coupled immunological and biomechanical model of emphysema progression

    Ceresa, M., Olivares, A. L., Noailly, J. & Ballester, M. A. G

    Front. Physiol. 9

  • Theoretical Explorations Generate New Hypotheses About the Role of the Cartilage Endplate in Early Intervertebral Disk Degeneration

    Ruiz Wills, C., Foata, B., González Ballester, M. Á., Karppinen, J. & Noailly, J

    Front. Physiol. 9, 1–12

  • Mechanism-based biomarker discovery

    Antoranz, A., Sakellaropoulos, T., Saez-Rodriguez, J. & Alexopoulos, L. G

    Drug Discov. Today 22, 1209–1215

  • Analysis of Uncertainty and Variability in Finite Element Computational Models for Biomedical Engineering: Characterization and Propagation

    Mangado, N., Piella, G., Noailly, J., Pons-Prats, J. & Ballester, M. Á. G

    Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 4

  • Simulating the sensitivity of cell nutritive environment to composition changes within the intervertebral disc

    Ruiz Wills, C. et al

    J. Mech. Phys. Solids 90

  • A qualitative model of the differentiation network in chondrocyte maturation: A holistic view of chondrocyte hypertrophy

    Kerkhofs, J. et al

    PLoS One 11, 1–27

  • Virtual exploration of early stage atherosclerosis

    Olivares, A. L., González Ballester, M. A. & Noailly, J

    Bioinformatics 32, 3798–3806

  • Poroelastic modeling of the intervertebral disc: A path toward integrated studies of tissue biophysics and organ degeneration

    Malandrino, A., Jackson, A. R., Huyghe, J. M. & Noailly, J.

    MRS Bull. 40

  • On the relative relevance of subject-specific geometries and degeneration-specific mechanical properties for the study of cell death in human intervertebral disk models

    Malandrino, A. et al

    Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 3

  • The role of endplate poromechanical properties on the nutrient availability in the intervertebral disc

    Malandrino, A. et al

    Osteoarthr. Cartil. 22, 509–518

  • Relating the Chondrocyte Gene Network to Growth Plate Morphology: From Genes to Phenotype

    Kerkhofs, J., Roberts, S. J., Luyten, F. P., Van Oosterwyck, H. & Geris, L

    PLoS One 7, e34729

Tools

  • Discrimination of osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures by DXA-derived 3D measurements: a retrospective case-control study

    López Picazo, M., Humbert, L., Di Gregorio, S., González Ballester, M. A. & del Río Barquero, L. M

    Osteoporos. Int. 30, 1099–1110

  • comoRbidity: an R package for the systematic analysis of disease comorbidities

    Gutiérrez-Sacristán, A. et al

    Bioinformatics 34, 3228–3230

  • 3D Subject-Specific Shape and Density Estimation of the Lumbar Spine from a Single Anteroposterior DXA Image Including Assessment of Cortical and Trabecular Bone

    Lopez Picazo M, Magallon Baro A, Del Rio Barquero LM, Di Gregorio S, Martelli Y, Romera J, Steghofer M, Gonzalez Ballester MA, Humbert L.

    IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2018 Dec;37(12):2651-2662.

  • A Web-Based Platform for Simulating MRI RF-Induced Heating with Implanted Devices

    Emili L., Baretta A., Serano P., Carbone V., Angelone L., Horner M

    BMES/FDA 2017 Frontiers in Medical Devices Conference, May 16-18, 2017, Washington, DC, U.S.A.

  • ISSLS PRIZE IN BIOENGINEERING SCIENCE 2017: Automation of reading of radiological features from magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of the lumbar spine without human intervention is comparable with an expert radiologist

    Jamaludin, A. et al

    Eur. Spine J. 26, 1374–1383

  • Automated classification and evidence visualization in spinal MRIs

    Jamaludin, A., Kadir, T. & Zisserman, A. SpineNet

    Med. Image Anal. 41, 63–73

  • DisGeNET: A comprehensive platform integrating information on human disease-associated genes and variants

    Piñero, J. et al

    Nucleic Acids Res. 45, D833–D839

  • Virtual Micromagnetics: A Framework for Accessible and Reproducible Micromagnetic Simulation

    M. Vousden, M.A. Bisotti, M. Albert, H. Fangohr.

    Journal of Open Research Software, 4(1), p.e41 (2016). 10.5334/jors.141

  • Using the Disease State Fingerprint Tool for Differential Diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

    Muñoz-Ruiz, M. Á. et al

    Dement. Geriatr. Cogn. Dis. Extra 6, 313–329

  • Alya: Computational Solid Mechanics for Supercomputers

    Casoni, E. et al

    Arch. Comput. Methods Eng. 22, 557–576

  • A Versatile Agent-Based Modelling Platform for Social Simulation

    Rubio-Campillo, X. Pandora

    Proc. 6th Int. Conf. Adv. Syst. Simul. 29–34 (2014) doi:10.13140/2.1.5149.4086

  • Modeling of signaling pathways in chondrocytes based on phosphoproteomic and cytokine release data

    Melas, I. N. et al

    Osteoarthr. Cartil. 22, 509–518

  • A disease state fingerprint for evaluation of alzheimer’s disease

    Mattila, J. et al

    J. Alzheimer’s Dis. 27, 163–176