Capillary endothelial cells of rat epididymal fat pad were isolated and cultured in media conditioned by bovine aortic endothelial cells and substrata consisting of interstitial or basement membrane collagens. When these cells were grown on interstitial collagens they underwent proliferation, formed a continuous cell layer and, if cultured for long periods of time, formed occasional tubelike st...

Mice lacking type II collagen fail to develop intervertebral discs. The present study describes the distribution of the developmentally expressed type IIA procollagen molecule, as well as types I and III collagens, in human IV disc specimens ranging from 42 to 101 days gestation. Type IIA procollagen contains the alternatively spliced exon 2 which encodes a 69-amino-acid cysteine-rich domain. B...

Purpose We examined the pattern and extent of connective tissue distribution in the extraocular muscles (EOMs) and determined the ability of the interconnected connective tissues to disseminate force laterally. Methods Human EOMs were examined for collagens I, III, IV, and VI; fibronectin; laminin; and elastin using immunohistochemistry. Connective tissue distribution was examined with scanni...

OBJECTIVE Decreased expression of collagen type II in favour of collagen type I or X is one hallmark of chondrocyte phenotype changes in osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage. MicroRNA- (miR-) 29b was previously shown to target collagens in several tissues. We studied whether it could contribute to collagen imbalance in chondrocytes with an impaired phenotype. METHODS After preliminary microarrays sc...

Blood flow is critical for normal cardiac development. Hemodynamic stimuli outside of normal ranges can lead to overt cardiac defects, but how early heart tissue remodels in response to altered hemodynamics is poorly understood. This study investigated changes in tissue collagen in response to hemodynamic overload in the chicken embryonic heart outflow tract (OFT) during tubular heart stages (H...

Our review covers the recent epigenetic data that are focused on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), their inhibitors (tissue inhibitors of MMPs; TIMPs) and collagen substrates. Twenty-four MMPs, four TIMPs and at least 28 collagen types are known in humans. The MMP activity regulates the functionality of multiple extracellular matrix proteins, cytokines, growth factors and cell signaling and adh...