476 ELEVATED LEVELS OF COLLAGEN TYPE III IN ARTICULAR CARTILAGE OF OSTEOARTHRITIC JOINTS

Type III collagen, a fibril network modifier in articular cartilage.

The collagen framework of hyaline cartilages, including articular cartilage, consists largely of type II collagen that matures from a cross-linked heteropolymeric fibril template of types II, IX, and XI collagens. In the articular cartilages of adult joints, type III collagen makes an appearance in varying amounts superimposed on the original collagen fibril network. In a study to understand be...

Cartilage in osteoarthritic joints is not automatically osteoarthritic cartilage.

In situ zymographic localisation of type II collagen degrading activity in osteoarthritic human articular cartilage.

OBJECTIVES Chondrocytic matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are believed to be important in osteoarthritic cartilage degradation. The cartilage lesion of osteoarthritis (OA) is focal and often progressive. During its development chondrocytes differentially up and down regulate production of mRNA for individual MMPs. This observation has potential implications for understanding the disease processe...

Enhanced cleavage of type II collagen by collagenases in osteoarthritic articular cartilage.

We demonstrate the direct involvement of increased collagenase activity in the cleavage of type II collagen in osteoarthritic human femoral condylar cartilage by developing and using antibodies reactive to carboxy-terminal (COL2-3/4C(short)) and amino-terminal (COL2-1/4N1) neoepitopes generated by cleavage of native human type II collagen by collagenase matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 (collage...

Differential Immunohistochemical Expression Pattern of Galectin-3 in Normal and Osteoarthritic Human Articular Cartilage

Background: Previous studies have shown that Galectin-3, a member of lectin family, is expressed in developing cartilage in mouse embryo and also in growth plate of long bones.   Objective: In the present work, the expression pattern of Galectin-3 in normal and various grades of osteoarthritic (OA) human articular cartilage has been studied.   Methods: Using immunohistochemistry and standard we...