TY - JOUR
T1 - Centrifugal characterization of proteoglycans from various depth layers and weight‐bearing areas of normal and abnormal human articular cartilage
AU - Müller, Francisco J.
AU - Pita, Julio C.
AU - Manicourt, Daniel H.
AU - Malinin, Theodore I.
AU - Schoonbeck, John M.
AU - Mow, Van C.
PY - 1989/5
Y1 - 1989/5
N2 - Ultracentrifugal polydispersity differential [g(S)] distributions were determined for the proteoglycans of various postmortem human articular cartilage samples extracted from six lateral patellar grooves in nondissociative conditions after mild collagenase digestion of the tissue. The samples consisted of 53 slices (250 μm thick), from normal, mildy fibrillated, and extensively ulcerated knee joints. When statistically analyzed in various subgroupings, the obtained average sedimentation coefficients and polydispersity profiles supported the following conclusions: (a) loss of proteoglycan aggregation and sedimentability is confirmed to be a primary sign of cartilage matrix degradation; (b) higher S values for proteoglycans of the high weight (HW)-bearing areas and lower values for those of the low weight (LW)-bearing areas were a typical finding in normal cartilage samples; (c) inversion of this pattern was indicative of matrix degradation, suggesting that the HW regions are more affected than the LW-bearing areas; (d) the average S value distribution across cartilage thickness tended to resemble the corresponding proteoglycan content versus distance from articular surface; and (e) the deepest cartilage layer had, in most cases, the smallest amount of aggregates while the highest average sedimentability was observed at the middle zone of the normal samples. In the discussion, a role of proteoglycan aggregation for providing a means to 'pack' more proteoglycans within the collagen meshwork and to control the generation of osmotic pressure gradients is suggested.
AB - Ultracentrifugal polydispersity differential [g(S)] distributions were determined for the proteoglycans of various postmortem human articular cartilage samples extracted from six lateral patellar grooves in nondissociative conditions after mild collagenase digestion of the tissue. The samples consisted of 53 slices (250 μm thick), from normal, mildy fibrillated, and extensively ulcerated knee joints. When statistically analyzed in various subgroupings, the obtained average sedimentation coefficients and polydispersity profiles supported the following conclusions: (a) loss of proteoglycan aggregation and sedimentability is confirmed to be a primary sign of cartilage matrix degradation; (b) higher S values for proteoglycans of the high weight (HW)-bearing areas and lower values for those of the low weight (LW)-bearing areas were a typical finding in normal cartilage samples; (c) inversion of this pattern was indicative of matrix degradation, suggesting that the HW regions are more affected than the LW-bearing areas; (d) the average S value distribution across cartilage thickness tended to resemble the corresponding proteoglycan content versus distance from articular surface; and (e) the deepest cartilage layer had, in most cases, the smallest amount of aggregates while the highest average sedimentability was observed at the middle zone of the normal samples. In the discussion, a role of proteoglycan aggregation for providing a means to 'pack' more proteoglycans within the collagen meshwork and to control the generation of osmotic pressure gradients is suggested.
KW - Aging
KW - Cartilage topology
KW - Human cartilage
KW - Osteoarthritis
KW - Proteoglycan poly‐dispersity
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U2 - 10.1002/jor.1100070304
DO - 10.1002/jor.1100070304
M3 - Article
C2 - 2703925
AN - SCOPUS:0024671916
VL - 7
SP - 326
EP - 334
JO - Journal of Orthopaedic Research
JF - Journal of Orthopaedic Research
SN - 0736-0266
IS - 3
ER -