Integrin mediated cell-extracellular matrix interactions are required for survival and differentiation of many cell types. In this review, the cell-matrix attachment complex (CMAX) is described for chondrocytes. The evidence that integrin-mediated signal transduction is necessary for normal chondrocyte differentiation and survival in various culture conditions and in vivo are reviewed. The poss...

Chondrocyte hypertrophy is a physiological process in endochondral ossification. However, the hypertrophic‑like alterations of chondrocytes at the articular surface may result in osteoarthritis (OA). In addition, the generation of fibrocartilage with a decreased biological function in tissue engineered cartilage, has been attributed to chondrocyte hypertrophy. Therefore, suppressing chondrocyte...

The differentiated phenotype of chondrocyte is lost in pathological situations and after interleukin (IL)-1beta challenge. Wnt proteins and the inorganic pyrophosphate (PP(i)) transporter Ank regulate the differentiation process in many cell types. We investigated the possible contribution of Ank and/or PP(i) to the maintenance of the differentiated chondrocyte phenotype with special care to Wn...

The BMP signaling pathway has a crucial role in chondrocyte proliferation and maturation during endochondral bone development. To investigate the specific function of the Bmp2 and Bmp4 genes in growth plate chondrocytes during cartilage development, we generated chondrocyte-specific Bmp2 and Bmp4 conditional knockout (cKO) mice and Bmp2,Bmp4 double knockout (dKO) mice. We found that deletion of...

objective: a study of the histological events under interleukin-1α (il-lα) induction of bovine nasal cartilage (bnc) could result in useful data to better understand the mechanisms involved in tissue breakdown in joint diseases. the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of il-lα on chondrocyte phenotype and extracellular matrix (ecm) changes in bnc explants. materials and methods: in...

In monolayer culture, primary articular chondrocytes have an intrinsic tendency to lose their phenotype during expansion. The molecular events underlying this chondrocyte dedifferentiation are still largely unknown. Several transcription factors are important for chondrocyte differentiation. The Ets transcription factor family may be involved in skeletal development. One family member, the Erg ...

OBJECTIVE Extracellular calcium influences chondrocyte differentiation and synthesis of extracellular matrix. Previously, calcium concentrations ranging from 0.1 mM to 2 mM have been used in vitro and these studies indicated that low calcium concentrations were generally favorable for chondrocyte culture. Our objective was to extend these findings to yet lower calcium concentrations and to comp...

We previously established a role for the second messenger ceramide in protein kinase R (PKR)-mediated articular cartilage degradation. Ceramide is known to play a dual role in collagen gene regulation, with the effect of ceramide on collagen promoter activity being dependent on its concentration. Treatment of cells with low doses of sphingomyelinase produces small increases in endogenous cerami...

Introduction. Efforts in cartilage repair have focused on maintaining the chondrocyte phenotype in adult cells. Recent investigations have explored the idea of inducing chondrocytes from progenitor/precursor cells. These studies would be aided by identification of a “master control gene(s)” that determine (s) the chondrocyte phenotype. A number of chondrogenic genes have been identified during ...