The pericellular matrix (PCM) is a narrow region that is rich in type VI collagen that surrounds each chondrocyte within the extracellular matrix (ECM) of articular cartilage. Previous studies have demonstrated that the chondrocyte micromechanical environment depends on the relative properties of the chondrocyte, its PCM and the ECM. The objective of this study was to measure the influence of t...

A continuum mixture model with distinct collagen (COL) and glycosaminoglycan elastic constituents was developed for the solid matrix of immature bovine articular cartilage. A continuous COL fiber volume fraction distribution function and a true COL fiber elastic modulus ([Formula: see text] were used. Quantitative polarized light microscopy (qPLM) methods were developed to account for the relat...

OBJECTIVE Our goal was to engineer cartilage in vivo using auricular chondrocytes that underwent clinically relevant expansion and using methodologies that could be easily translated into health care practice. DESIGN Sheep and human chondrocytes were isolated from auricular cartilage biopsies and expanded in vitro. To reverse dedifferentiation, expanded cells were either mixed with cryopreser...

Background: Articular cartilage is an avascular tissue that serves to reduce the frictional load between contacting bones in load bearing joints. The tissue consists of a sparse population of chondrocytes (≈ 2% by volume) embedded in an extracellular matrix (ECM). Aggrecan and type-II-collagen are the two primary macromolecules constituting the ECM and play distinct yet complementary biomechani...

© 2005 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry DOI: 10.1002/masy.200550905 Summary: To describe load bearing and lubrication of cartilage requires treating its collagen network and proteoglycan (PG) phases separately in a constitutive law of the tissue. We propose a framework for developing such an empirical constitutive law that treats the cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) as a co...

Cartilage is an avascular tissue with only a limited potential to heal and chondrocytes in vitro have poor proliferative capacity. Recently, adipose-derived stromal cells (ASC) have demonstrated a great potential for application to tissue engineering due to their ability to differentiate into cartilage, bone, and fat. In this study, we have utilized a high density three-dimensional (3D) microma...

BACKGROUND The properties of subchondral bone influence the integrity of articular cartilage in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). However, the characteristics of subchondral bone alterations remain unresolved. The present study aimed to observe the dynamic alterations in the microarchitecture, mineralization, and mechanical properties of subchondral bone during the progression of OA. M...

Compressive mechanical stimuli are crucial in regenerating cartilage with tissue engineering, which creates a need for scaffolds that can maintain their mechanical integrity while delivering mechanical signals to adherent cells during strain applications. With these goals in mind, the aim of this study was to develop a mechano-active scaffold that facilitated effective cartilaginous tissue form...

Synovial joints are composed of several different kinds of tissue that interact to protect normal joint function. Three subchondral mineralized tissues can be identified – calcified cartilage, subchondral cortical bone, and subchondral trabecular bone – which are distinguished morphologically, physiologically, and mechanically. Each responds to mechanical and pharmaceutical stimuli in different...

During activities of the Sea Fisheries Research Institute at Kleinzee, lung samples from six South African fur seals were collected. The terminal airways showed pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium with numerous goblet cells and occasional brush cells. Smooth muscle, cartilage and submucosal glands were also present. The epithelium changed over a short distance, in the smaller airways,...