Cartilage elasticity resides in shape module decoran and aggrecan sumps of damping fluid: implications in osteoarthrosis
Cartilage ultrastructure is based on collagen fibrils tied together by proteoglycans (PGs). Interfibrillar orthogonal PG bridges (âshape modulesâ) were located by electron histochemistry using Cupromeronic blue methodology. Their frequency and size, similar to those in tendon, cornea, etc., were...
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Published in | The Journal of physiology Vol. 574; no. 3; pp. 643 - 650 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford, UK
The Physiological Society
01.08.2006
Blackwell Publishing Ltd Blackwell Science Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Cartilage ultrastructure is based on collagen fibrils tied together by proteoglycans (PGs). Interfibrillar orthogonal PG bridges
(âshape modulesâ) were located by electron histochemistry using Cupromeronic blue methodology. Their frequency and size, similar
to those in tendon, cornea, etc., were compatible with biochemical estimates of tissue decoran (formerly decorin), the PG
component of shape module bridges. Digestion by hyaluronanase and chondroitinase AC helped to identify aggrecan and decoran
and exemplified the destruction of shape modular organization by glycan-splitting agents. The anionic glycosaminoglycan (AGAG)
of decoran, dermochondan sulphate (DS, formerly dermatan sulphate), contains l -iduronate, an elastic sugar unit. Chondroitan, keratan (present in aggrecan) and hyaluronan are not similarly elastic but
can participate in sliding-filament reversible deformability. Mechanical properties predicted for the interfibrillar bridges
accord with anisotropic stress/strain responses of articular cartilage to compressive or tensile stresses. We propose that
fluid from pericellular aggrecan-rich domains moves under pressure into the interterritorial fibrillar arrays against the
elastic resistance of the shape modules, which return the fluid, post-compression, to its original position. Cartilage is
tendon-like, with the addition of expansile aggrecan-rich reservoirs of aqueous shock absorber fluid. Rupture or loss of interfibrillar
ties would allow expansile PG to force the collagenous matrix apart, imbibing water, increasing swelling and fissuring â characteristic
manifestations of osteoarthrosis (OA), a joint disease of major economic importance. Decoran may be a primary target of the
OA disease process. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0022-3751 1469-7793 |
DOI: | 10.1113/jphysiol.2006.108100 |