Cartilage
Resilient connective tissue covering joints and supporting body structures.
Cristobal carrasco (originale); Fabyrav · CC BY-SA 3.0
A tough fibrous membrane called perichondrium typically covers the semi-transparent, non-porous, resilient, and smooth connective tissue that is cartilage.[1] As articular cartilage in tetrapods, it protects and covers the ends of long bones at joints, and also serves as a structural component of the rib cage, neck, bronchial tubes, and intervertebral discs.[1]
Quick Facts
- Composition
- Matrix of glycosaminoglycans
- proteoglycans
- collagen fibers
- and sometimes elastin
- Cell type
- Chondrocytes
- Types
- Elastic cartilage
- hyaline cartilage
- and fibrocartilage
- Blood supply
- Does not contain blood vessels or nerves; some fibrocartilage has partial blood supply
- Mechanical properties
- Viscoelastic
- aggregate modulus 0.5–0.9 MPa
- Young's modulus 0.45–0.80 MPa
- Permeability
- 10^-15 to 10^-16 m^4/Ns
- Poisson's ratio
- Around 0.4 or lower in humans; 0.46–0.5 in bovine subjects
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
In embryogenesis, the skeletal system is derived from the mesoderm germ layer.[2] In all vertebrates, cartilage is the main skeletal tissue in early ontogenetic stages.[2] Condensed mesenchyme tissue differentiates into chondroblasts during chondrification (also called chondrogenesis), the process that forms cartilage.[2] Because cell division within cartilage is very slow, cartilage growth typically does not come from increasing the cartilage's own size or mass.[3]
Proteoglycan and collagens are the main components of the ECM.[4] Aggrecan, the primary proteoglycan in cartilage, creates large aggregates with hyaluronan and itself, and these negatively charged aggregates retain water in the tissue.[4] Proteoglycans are constrained by the collagen, which is mostly collagen type II.[5] Chondrocytes, being bound in lacunae, cannot migrate to damaged areas, which gives cartilage only limited repair capabilities.[6]
Slow deposition of new matrix occurs because hyaline cartilage lacks a blood supply.[6]
What the research sources say
The International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) advances science and education for the prevention and treatment of cartilage disease worldwide.[7] The ICRS launched the peer-reviewed open access Journal of Cartilage & Joint Preservation in 2021.[7] Glucosamine and chondroitin are natural body chemicals that make up cartilage, the natural shock absorber in joints.[8] Taking glucosamine and chondroitin as supplements is thought to boost the production of new cartilage.[8]
The ICRS Patient Registry is the first international database for clinical outcomes of cartilage repair and joint preservation treatments.[7] The ICRS invites those with an interest in cartilage regeneration and joint preservation to join the Society and help translate scientific advances into clinical practice.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Cartilage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sophia Fox, "The basic science of articular cartilage: structure, composition, and function.", Sports Health, November 2009, p. 461–8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cartilage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buffrénil, "An Overview of the Embryonic Development of the Bony Skeleton", Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology, 2021, p. 29–38; Quilhac, "An Overview of Cartilage Histology", Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology, 2021, p. 123–146; Cervantes-Diaz, "Evolutionary origin of endochondral ossification: the transdifferentiation hypothesis", Development Genes and Evolution, March 2017, p. 121–127 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cartilage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Cartilage growth and remodeling: modulation of balance between proteoglycan and collagen network in vitro with beta-aminopropionitrile", Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, January 2008, p. 1–11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cartilage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Coexistence of Crumpling and Flat Sheet Conformations in Two-Dimensional Polymer Networks: An Understanding of Aggrecan Self-Assembly", Physical Review Letters, September 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cartilage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Articular cartilage tensile integrity: modulation by matrix depletion is maturation-dependent", Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, June 2008, p. 175–82 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Cartilage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Klabukov, "Post-Implantation Inflammatory Responses to Xenogeneic Tissue-Engineered Cartilage Implanted in Rabbit Trachea: The Role of Cultured Chondrocytes in the Modification of Inflammation", International Journal of (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- International Cartilage Repair Society ICRS. facts only, no text reused. cartilage.org
- "Supplements for osteoarthritis 'do not work'", BBC News, 16 September 2010. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cartilage (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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