The interface between the intervertebral disc and the vertebral body is important to the discs’
biomechanics and physiology, and is widely implicated in its pathology. This study aimed to
explore biochemically and structurally the bony endplate, cartilage endplate and intervertebral
disc, below the nucleus and below the annulus in ...
The interface between the intervertebral disc and the vertebral body is important to the discs’
biomechanics and physiology, and is widely implicated in its pathology. This study aimed to
explore biochemically and structurally the bony endplate, cartilage endplate and intervertebral
disc, below the nucleus and below the annulus in healthy bovine tails. Multiphoton imaging
and spontaneous Raman spectroscopy were employed. Raman spectroscopy provided
relative quantification of mineral and matrix components across the vertebral endplate and its
adjacent areas with microscopic spatial resolution. Microscopy utilising second-harmonic
generation (SHG) and two-photon fluorescence (TPF) allowed for the structural identification
of distinct endplate regions. The cartilage endplate was revealed as structurally distinct from
both the bone and disc, supporting its biomechanical function as a transition zone between
the soft and hard tissue components. The collagen fibres were continuous across the tidemark
which defines the interface between the mineralised and non-mineralised regions of the
endplate. Raman spectroscopy revealed gradients in phosphate and carbonate content
through the depth of the endplate and also differences beneath the nucleus and annulus
consistent with a higher rate of remodelling under the annulus.
