Isolation of Mouse Growth Plate and Articular Chondrocytes for Primary Cultures
Cartilage is a connective tissue presenting in several forms that are all essential components of the vertebrate skeleton. Complementing in vivo models, cultures of its resident cells—chondrocytes—are important experimental models in mechanistic and precl
- PDF / 657,919 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 504.567 x 720 pts Page_size
- 115 Downloads / 201 Views
Introduction Cartilage is an essential tissue in vertebrates. It comes in several subtypes, the main ones being growth plate and articular. Growth plates ensure skeletal elongation during fetal and postnatal development and contribute structurally and functionally to endochondral ossification, the process whereby most bones form [1, 2]. Mutations in genes controlling growth plate cartilage development and function underlie various forms of growth disturbances (dwarfism and overgrowth), and chondrodysplasias (generalized or localized malformations of the endochondral skeleton), and can also impair the endochondral process involved in bone fracture repair [3, 4]. While growth plates are temporary developmental structures, articular cartilage is a permanent tissue that provides a lubricated surface and resilient cushion for frictionfree, deformation-free and pain-free movement of bone extremities
Tariq M. Haqqi and Ve´ronique Lefebvre (eds.), Chondrocytes: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2245, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1119-7_4, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
39
40
Abdul Haseeb and Ve´ronique Lefebvre
facing each other in synovial joints. Various factors can affect articular cartilage development and adult homeostasis [5, 6]. They include gene mutations, altered chondrocyte metabolism, excessive mechanical loading, inflammation, and aging [7]. All lead to degenerative joint diseases, wherein articular cartilage is progressively degraded and irreversibly eroded. Osteoarthritis, the most prevalent of these diseases, affects a large subset of the adult and aging human population [8]. All cartilage subtypes are made of an abundant extracellular matrix produced and maintained by chondrocytes, the only cells present in the tissue [9]. This matrix is composed of a fibrillar network implicating the collagen types 2, 9, and 11 [10] and a highly hydrated gel of aggrecan, other proteoglycans and glycoproteins [11]. In addition, each cartilage subtype features specific components, such as collagen type 10 in the hypertrophic zone of growth plates and the proteoglycan lubricin in the superficial layers of articular cartilage [12]. The differential compositions of these cartilage matrices imply that each chondrocyte is defined by its ability to implement a cartilage subtype- and zone-specific program in addition to the pancartilaginous differentiation program. Further, each chondrocyte is also defined by its proliferative or growtharrested state and by its anabolic and catabolic rate. For instance, growth plate chondrocytes actively proliferate in the columnar zone of the tissue before growth-arresting and undergoing terminal hypertrophic maturation, whereas adult articular chondrocytes are not proliferative and do not normally proceed to terminal maturation. Each chondrocyte type is thus subjected to different modes of regulation and hence needs to be studied accordingly. Primary cultures of chondrocytes have been used for decades as handy and potent tool
Data Loading...
