Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a member of the thrombospondin family of extracellular matrix glycoproteins. All members of the family contain a highly conserved region of thrombospondin type 3 sequence repeats that bind calcium. A mutation in COMP previously identified in a patient with pseudoachondroplasia resulted in abnormal sequestration of COMP in distinctive rER vesicles. T...

OBJECTIVE To examine if unilateral knee injury affects the synovial fluid concentrations of aggrecan fragments, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) fragments, stromelysin-1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in the contralateral uninjured knee. METHODS Synovial fluids from the injured and uninjured knees were obtained at different times in a group of patients after ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the hypothesis that aggrecan, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), and bone sialoprotein (BSP) concentrations in synovial fluid could provide information on variations of progression of joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Aggrecan, COMP, and BSP were quantified by enzyme linked immunosorbent assays in longitudinally collected knee joint synovial flui...

BACKGROUND Early diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) is difficult. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and crosslinked C-telopeptides of type II collagen (CTX-II) are two markers which can potentially predict the destruction of articular cartilage of early OA. To comprehensively evaluate the diagnosis value of serum COMP and CTX-II markers in OA, the longitudinal and combined measurement of...

Introduction: Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is an N-terminal disulfide-linked, 524 kd homopentameric glycoprotein found primarily surrounding chondrocytes in the cartilage extracellular matrix. COMP gene mutations have been identified in two types of autosomal dominant chondrodysplasias that exhibit osteoarthritic phenotypes; pseudoachondroplasia (PSACH) and multiple epiphyseal dys...

Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED) is a clinically variable and genetically heterogeneous disease that is characterized by mild short stature and early onset osteoarthritis. Autosomal dominant forms are caused by mutations in the genes that encode type IX collagen, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, and matrilin-3: COL9A1, COL9A2, COL9A3, COMP, and MATN3, respectively. Splicing mutations hav...

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) was recently implicated in the progression of breast cancer. Immunostaining of 342 prostate cancer specimens in tissue microarrays showed that COMP expression is not breast cancer-specific but also occurs in prostate cancer. The expression of COMP in prostate cancer cells correlated with a more aggressive disease with faster recurrence. Subcutaneous xe...

Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (MED) is an autosomal dominantly inherited chondrodysplasia. It is clinically highly heterogeneous, partially because of its complex genetic background. Mutations in four genes, COL9A2, COL9A3, COMP, and MATR3, all coding for cartilage extracellular matrix components (i.e., the alpha2 and alpha 3 chains of collagen IX, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, and matri...