Evidence mapPaperPMID 42236482Full record

ArticleCell death & disease2026

Loss of MCT1 mediated lactate uptake causes delayed endplate maturation and intervertebral disc degeneration.

Maria Tsingas, Konstantinos Tsingas, Mei Smyers, Wujuan Zhang, Aaron R Goldman, Eulisa Lawrence, John A Collins, Makarand V Risbud

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell death & disease, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Maria TsingasDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Konstantinos TsingasUniversity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-5868-4691
Mei SmyersGraduate Program in Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Jefferson College of Life Sciences, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Wujuan ZhangProteomics and Metabolomics Facility, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Aaron R GoldmanProteomics and Metabolomics Facility, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7605-9592
Eulisa LawrenceDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
John A CollinsDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5743-3304
Makarand V RisbudDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Makarand.Risbud@jefferson.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3913-0649

Funding

The role of endogenous low molecular weight mineralization inhibitors in spine healthR01AR082460 · THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY · 2025 to 2025
$599k
Targeting cell senescence in a novel model of spontaneous disc degenerationR01AG073349 · THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY · 2025 to 2025
$557k
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) R01AR082460U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) R56 AR055655-16A1U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (U.S. National Institute on Aging) R01AG073349
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

During skeletal growth, it is thought that the lactate secreted by the glycolytic nucleus pulposus (NP) cells exits the intervertebral disc into circulation via endplates. Our current studies challenge this long-held notion. Mice with early postnatal, endplate, and annulus fibrosus-specific deletion of lactate importer, MCT1, exhibited disc degeneration characterized by NP cell loss and pronounced endplate structural changes. Using metabolic and transcriptomic approaches, we demonstrate that MCT1 loss inhibits endplate chondrocyte differentiation and that lactate serves both as a crucial TCA metabolite and promotes protein and histone lactylation and gene expression. These findings suggest that during skeletal growth, NP-derived lactate in part supports endplate cartilage differentiation into the vascularized subchondral bone, which, when absent, limits nutrient exchange and availability to the other disc compartments, affecting their homeostasis. This study provides the first in vivo evidence that loss of MCT1 mediated lactate uptake in endplate cells causes delayed maturation and intervertebral disc degeneration.

Indexed as

Intervertebral Disc DegenerationLactic AcidMonocarboxylic Acid TransportersSymportersAnimalsCell DifferentiationChondrocytesIntervertebral DiscMiceMice, KnockoutMonocarboxylate Transport Protein 1Nucleus PulposusLactic AcidMonocarboxylate Transport Protein 1Monocarboxylic Acid TransportersSymporters

Identifiers

PMID42236482
PMCPMC13448696

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.