background: cell-based treatment approach using differentiated mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) and mature chondrocytes has been considered as an advanced treatment for cartilage repair. we investigated the differentiated level of these two cell types that is crucial for their repair capacity for cartilage defect at a co-culture micro mass system.   methods: passaged-2 mscs isolated from the mouse...

BACKGROUND Articular cartilage injury remains a major challenge in orthopedic surgery. This study aimed to identify differences in gene expression and molecular responses between neonatal and adult articular cartilage during the healing of an injury. METHODS An established in vitro model was used to compare the transcriptional response to cartilage injury in neonatal and adult sheep by microa...

OBJECTIVE Because the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) transverse relaxation time (T2) of cartilage is sensitive to organization of collagen fibers in the cartilage, it may be a noninvasive image marker for senescent changes in cartilage collagen and early cartilage degeneration. The purpose of this study was to determine age-dependent differences in cartilage T2 values in healthy asymptomatic ...

Background and purpose - Arthroscopic estimation of articular cartilage thickness is important for scoring of lesion severity, and measurement of cartilage speed of sound (SOS)-a sensitive index of changes in cartilage composition. We investigated the accuracy of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in measurements of cartilage thickness and determined SOS by combining OCT thickness and ultrasoun...

Objective. To investigate the expression and target genes of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in cartilage and chondrocytes, respectively. Methods. We analyzed the expression pattern of PEDF in different human cartilaginous tissues including articular cartilage, osteophytic cartilage, and fetal epiphyseal and growth plate cartilage, by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time (qR...

OBJECTIVES The lack of effective treatment for cartilage defects has prompted investigations using tissue engineering techniques for their regeneration and repair. The success of tissue-engineered repair of cartilage may depend on the rapid and efficient adhesion of transplanted cells to a scaffold. Our aim in this study was to repair full-thickness defects in articular cartilage in the weight-...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease, characterized by progressive destruction of the articular cartilage. The surface of joint cartilage is the first defensive and affected site of OA, but our knowledge of genesis and homeostasis of this superficial zone is scarce. EGFR signaling is important for tissue homeostasis. Immunostaining revealed that its activity is mostly dominant i...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease causing loss of articular cartilage and structural damage in all tissues. Given the limited regenerative capacity cartilage, methods to support native properties are highly anticipated. The aim this study was infiltrate zwitterionic monomer solutions into human OA-cartilage explants replace lost proteoglycans. included polymerization depositio...

INTRODUCTION Aging proteins undergo non-enzymatic post-translational modification, including isomerization and racemization. We hypothesized that cartilage with many long-lived components could accumulate non-enzymatically modified amino acids in the form of isomerized aspartate and that its liberation due to osteoarthritis (OA)-related cartilage degradation could reflect OA severity. METHODS...

To examine the role of connective tissue growth factor CCN2/CTGF (CCN2) in the maintenance of the articular cartilaginous phenotype, we analyzed knee joints from aging transgenic mice (TG) overexpressing CCN2 driven by the Col2a1 promoter. Knee joints from 3-, 14-, 40-, and 60-day-old and 5-, 12-, 18-, 21-, and 24-month-old littermates were analyzed. Ccn2-LacZ transgene expression in articular ...