BACKGROUND Chondromalacia patellae is a potentially disabling disorder characterised by features of patellar cartilage degradation. OBJECTIVE To evaluate markers of cartilage and bone turnover in patients with chondromalacia patellae. METHODS 18 patients with chondromalacia patellae were studied. Serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (s-COMP) and bone sialoprotein (s-BSP) levels were me...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of serum and compressive dynamic loading on the cartilaginous matrix spatiotemporal distribution around chondrocytes in vitro. Murine chondrocytes suspended in agarose were cultured in serum-free media or in varying concentrations of serum with or without compressive dynamic loading. Gene expression was assayed by quantitative polymerase chai...

Novel azido-functionalized POSS were synthesized, which could serve as nanoprecursors for higher-order molecular construction of organic-inorganic hybrids via"click" chemistry.

BACKGROUND Clinical tools to diagnose the early changes of osteoarthritis (OA) that occur in the articular cartilage are lacking. OBJECTIVES We sought to identify and quantify a novel cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) neoepitope in the synovial fluid from the joints of healthy horses and those with different stages of OA. STUDY DESIGN In vitro quantitative proteomics and assay deve...

We have previously reported that COMP (cartilage oligomeric matrix protein) is prominent in cartilage but is also present in tendon and binds to collagens I and II with high affinity. Here we show that COMP influences the fibril formation of these collagens. Fibril formation in the presence of pentameric COMP was much faster, and the amount of collagen in fibrillar form was markedly increased. ...

OBJECTIVE Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a parameter for the current extent of cartilage destruction. It has been shown that the release pattern of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in serum reflects cartilage turnover. The aim of our study was to explore the utility of sCOMP as a marker for disease activity in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in comparison to a c...

We used quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to determine if relationships exist between proposed molecular biomarkers for degenerative joint disease (DJD) and structural characteristics of articular cartilage. Subjects were eight male and eight female volunteers diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Magnetic resonance images of the symptomatic knee were taken and blood samples were drawn. Con...