Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40442480›Full record

ArticleNature biomedical engineering2025

ROCK-dependent mechanotransduction of macroscale forces drives fibrosis in degenerative spinal disease.

Muhamed Hadzipasic, Margaret S Sten, Elie Massaad, Ali Kiapour, Ian D Connolly, Eric Esposito, Ryan Burns, George Nageeb, Muneeb A Sharif, Joseph Bradley and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature biomedical engineering, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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

20 authors.

Muhamed HadzipasicDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Margaret S StenDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Elie MassaadDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ali KiapourDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ian D ConnollyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Eric EspositoDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ryan BurnsDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
George NageebDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Muneeb A SharifDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2520-5355
Joseph BradleyDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Leland RichardsonDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Sami ShaikhDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Bryan D ChoiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Gunnlaugur P NielsenDepartment of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jean-Valery C CoumansDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Lawrence F BorgesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
John H ShinDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Alan J GrodzinskyDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Hadi T NiaDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1970-9901
Ganesh M ShankarDepartment of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. gshankar@mgh.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-5203-8619

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic repetitive forces on the spinal column promote the development of degenerative spinal disease. Yet the mechanisms linking such macroscale mechanical forces to tissue hypertrophy remain unknown. Here we show that fibrotic regions in human ligamentum flavum naturally exposed to high stress display elevated Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) signalling and an increased density of myofibroblasts expressing smooth muscle actin α. The myofibroblasts were localized in regions of elevated stiffness and microstress, such accumulation was ROCK dependent, and ROCK inhibition partially reduced the stress-driven transcriptional responses. Our findings support the further investigation of ROCK inhibitors for the treatment of degenerative spinal disease.

Indexed as

Ligamentum FlavumMechanotransduction, Cellularrho-Associated KinasesActinsFemaleFibrosisHumansMaleMiddle AgedMyofibroblastsStress, MechanicalActinsrho-Associated Kinases

Identifiers

PMID40442480

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.