Fig. 1

Tissue sample acquisition and analysis. A Sagittal magnetic resonance imaging scans LVF and LDH groups. B HE staining confirmed that LVF and LDH endplate cartilage had different pathological changes. C–E Western blotting and RT-qPCR were used to detect the difference of COL-2A and Sox-9 protein expression between the two groups. F–H RT-qPCR and western blotting were used to detect the difference in p53, p21, p16, and RB1 expression in the LVF and LDH groups. I, J Flow cytometry and K, L SA-β-gal staining used to detect the apoptosis and senescence of endplate cartilages respectively (p < 0.001)