A major site of pyridinoline cross-linking in bovine type IX collagen was traced to a tryptic peptide derived from one of the molecule's HMW chains. This peptide gave two amino acid sequences (in 2/1 ratio) consistent with it being a three-chained structure. The major sequence matched exactly that of the C-telopeptide of type II collagen from the same tissue. A second HMW chain that contained p...

Hyaline cartilage and mechanically inferior fibrocartilage consisting of mixed collagen types are frequently found together in repairing articular cartilage. The present study seeks to develop methodology to identify collagen type and other tissue components using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectral evaluation of matrix composition in combination with multivariate analyses. FTIR spectra ...

Mesenchymal specification of epithelial cytodifferentiation and morphogenesis has been considered to be a general feature of various epithelial-mesenchymal interacting systems (e.g., salivary gland, mammary gland, feather, hair, and tooth morphogenesis). In contrast, we have demonstrated that a mesenchyme can be induced by a heterologous epithelium to synthesize in quantity a specific gene prod...

Proteolysis of triple-helical collagen is an important step in the progression toward irreversible tissue damage in osteoarthritis. Earlier work on the expression of enzymes in cartilage suggested that collagenase-1 (MMP-1) contributes to the process. Degenerate reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction experiments, Northern blot analysis, and direct immunodetection have now provided evid...

Angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated stimulation of fibroblast growth and collagen type I synthesis is believed to be an important component of the cardiac remodeling process in hypertension and chronic ischemia. Ang II-mediated oxidative stress could be important in enhanced fibroblast growth and collagen formation. Accordingly, we postulated that the PPAR-gamma ligand, pioglitazone, which is know...

This report deals with the quantitation of both mRNA and transcription activity of type I collagen gene and of three cartilage-specific collagens (types II, IX, and X) during in vitro differentiation of chick chondrocytes. Differentiation was obtained by transferal to suspension culture of dedifferentiated cells passaged for 3 wk as adherent cells. The type I collagen mRNA, highly represented i...

Chondroadherin is a cell binding, leucine-rich repeat protein found in the territorial matrix of articular cartilage. Several members of the leucine-rich repeat protein family present in the extracellular matrix of e.g. cartilage have been shown to interact with collagen and influence collagen fibrillogenesis. We show that complexes of monomeric collagen type II and chondroadherin can be releas...