the importance of mesenchymal stem cells (mscs), as adult stem cells (ascs) able to divide into a variety of different cells is of utmost importance for stem cell researches. in this study, the ability of cartilage extract to induce differentiation of rat derived omentum tissue mscs (rot-mscs) into chondrocyte cells (ccs) was investigated. after isolation of rot-mscs, they were co-cultured with...

Objective. To demonstrate the roles of p16 in the senescence of human chondrocytes and the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed to examine p16 expression in fetal, normal age-matched and OA cartilage, and Western blot was used in primary cultured chondrocytes from different origins. To explo...

BACKGROUND Cartilage degradation is a typical characteristic of arthritis. This study examined whether there was a subset of phagocytic chondrocytes that expressed the specific macrophage marker, CD163, and investigated their role in cartilage degradation. METHODS Cartilage from the knee and temporomandibular joints of Sprague-Dawley rats was harvested. Cartilage degradation was experimentall...

INTRODUCTION Obesity is one of the major risk factors for the development of osteoarthritis (OA). Although the mechanical factors appear to be critical, recent studies have suggested a role for adipokines in cartilage degradation. Chondrocytes from osteoarthritic cartilage respond poorly to insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and the molecular mechanism(s) involved is not clearly understood. T...

Cartilage injury remains a challenge in orthopedic surgery as articular cartilage only has a limited capacity for intrinsic healing. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) is a suitable technique for cartilage repair, but requires articular cartilage biopsies for autologous chondrocyte expansion. The use of heterotopic chondrocytes derived from non-articular cartilage sources such as auri...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT It was recently demonstrated that the postnatal transition from a notochordal to a fibrocartilaginous nucleus pulposus (NP) is accomplished exogenously by chondrocytes migrating from hyaline cartilage end plates (CEs) into the ectopic notochordal NP region. Although our previous in vivo studies showed evidences for the migration of CE chondrocyte from hyaline CEs into the not...

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate the roles of p16(INK4a) in the senescence of human chondrocytes and the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed to examine p16(INK4a) expression in fetal, normal age-matched and OA cartilage, and Western blot was used in primary cultured chondrocytes from different ori...

The main purpose of this in situ hybridization study was to investigate mRNA expression of three bone/cartilage matrix components (perlecan, DMP1, and MEPE) in developing primary (tibial) and secondary (condylar) cartilage. Perlecan mRNA expression was first detected in newly formed chondrocytes in tibial cartilage at E13.0, but this expression decreased in hypertrophic chondrocytes at E14.0. I...

In the growth plate of endochondral bones, parathyroid hormone (PTH)-related peptide (PTHrP) regulates the rate of chondrocyte maturation from prehypertrophic chondrocytes to hypertrophic chondrocytes. Using an antibody specific for Sox9 phosphorylated at serine 181 (S(181)), one of the two consensus protein kinase A phosphorylation sites of Sox9, we showed that the addition of PTHrP strongly i...

Developing murine growth plates comprise at least three morphologically distinct groups of chondrocytes (see Fig. 3C): round periarticular chondrocytes, flat columnar chondrocytes and hypertrophic chondrocytes. Periarticular chondrocytes proliferate and differentiate into columnar chondrocytes that proliferate further and form orderly columns. Unlike the round periarticular chondrocytes, the fl...