MICROENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON ARTICULAR CHONDROCYTE DIFFERENTIATION

Osmolarity influences chondrocyte repair after injury in human articular cartilage

BACKGROUND The purpose was to determine the influence of irrigation solution osmolarity on articular chondrocytes survival and metabolic state following mechanical injury. METHODS Osteochondral explants were harvested from patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis and then cut through their full thickness to establish mechanical injury models. Cartilage explants were incu...

Bone morphogenetic protein signaling in articular chondrocyte differentiation.

Articular chondrocytes progressively undergo dedifferentiation into a spindle-shaped mesenchymal cellular phenotype in monolayers. Chondrocyte dedifferentiation is stimulated by retinoic acid. On the other hand, bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs) stimulate differentiation of chondrocytes. We examined the mechanism of effects of BMP in chondrocyte differentiation with use of a recombinant adenovir...

Articular Chondrocyte Mechanics at Different Loading Rates

INTRODUCTION Mechanical impact loading is known to cause cell death and to lead to the onset and progression of osteoarthritis [1]. In order to understand why in-situ cells die readily following impact loading but remain unaffected when the same load is applied at a slow rate, we used a Finite Element model of articular cartilage and chondrocytes to study the in-situ cell mechanics, which canno...

Chondrocyte multiplication in osteoarthritic articular cartilage.

Chondrocyte ultrastructure in adult human articular cartilage.

Age changes in the ultrastructure of articular chondrocytes have been studied in detail in mice (Silberberg, Silberberg, and Feir, 1964) and in rabbits (Davies, Barnett, Cochrane, and Palfrey, 1962; Barnett, Cochrane, and Palfrey, 1963). Less has been published concerning the influence of age on cellular ultrastructure in human articular cartilage. This is due partly to the scarcity of suitable...