Hypertrophic Zone (hypertrophic + zone)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Thyroid Hormones Promote Chondrocyte Differentiation in Mouse ATDC5 Cells and Stimulate Endochondral Ossification in Fetal Mouse Tibias Through Iodothyronine Deiodinases in the Growth Plate,

JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002
Masako Miura
Abstract Thyroid hormones (THs), 3,3,,5-triiodo- L -thyronine (T3) and L -thyroxine (T4), are important for the normal development of the growth plate (GP); congenital TH deficiency leads to severe dwarfism. In mouse chondrogenic cell line, ATDC5, T3 enhanced differentiation and increased Alizarin red staining, but did not affect Alcian blue staining. In organ-cultured mouse tibias, THs stimulated the cartilage growth, especially in the hypertrophic zone. Interestingly, T4 was as equally potent as T3 in organ-cultured tibias, which suggests that T4 is metabolized locally to T3, because T4 is a prohormone and must be converted to T3 for its activity. Two enzymes catalyze the conversion; type I deiodinase (D1) and type II deiodinase (D2). D1 has a ubiquitous distribution and D2, with a high affinity for T4, is present where the maintenance of intracellular T3 concentration is critical. Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for D1 and D2 were detected in neonatal mouse tibias and ATDC5 cells. The enzyme activity was unaffected by the D1 inhibitor 6-propyl-2-thiouracil, suggesting that D2 mainly catalyzes the reaction. D2 mRNA was detected in differentiated ATDC5 cells. In organ-cultured mouse tibias, D2 activity was greater at later stages. In contrast, thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) were expressed in neonatal mouse tibias and ATDC5 cells, but their expression levels in ATDC5 cells were stable throughout the culture periods. Therefore, increased T3 production at later stages by D2 is likely to contribute to the preferential effects of THs in the terminal differentiation of GP. This article is the first to show that T4 is activated locally in GP and enhances the understanding of TH effects in GP. [source]


The Assembly and Remodeling of the Extracellular Matrix in the Growth Plate in Relationship to Mineral Deposition and Cellular Hypertrophy: An In Situ Study of Collagens II and IX and Proteoglycan,

JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002
Fackson Mwale
Abstract The recent development of new specific immunoassays has provided an opportunity to study the assembly and resorption of type II and IX collagens of the extracellular matrix in relationship to endochondral calcification in situ. Here, we describe how in the bovine fetal physis prehypertrophic chondrocytes deposit an extensive extracellular matrix that, initially, is rich in both type II and type IX collagens and proteoglycan (PG; principally, aggrecan). The majority of the ,1(IX)-chains lack the NC4 domain consistent with our previous studies with cultured chondrocytes. During assembly, the molar ratio of type II/COL2 domain of the ,1(IX)-chain varied from 8:1 to 25:1. An increase in the content of Ca2+ and inorganic phosphate (Pi) was initiated in the prehypertrophic zone when the NC4 domain was removed selectively from the ,1(IX)-chain. This was followed by the progressive loss of the ,1(IX) COL2 domain and type II collagen. In the hypertrophic zone, the Ca2+/Pi molar ratio ranged from 1.56 to a maximum of 1.74, closely corresponding to that of mature hydroxyapatite (1.67). The prehypertrophic zone had an average ratio Ca2+/Pi ranging from 0.25 to 1, suggesting a phase transformation. At hypertrophy, when mineral content was maximal, type II collagen was reduced maximally in content coincident with a peak of cleavage of this molecule by collagenase when matrix metalloproteinase 13 (MMP-13) expression was maximal. In contrast, PG (principally aggrecan) was retained when hydroxyapatite was formed consistent with the view that this PG does not inhibit and might promote calcification in vivo. Taken together with earlier studies, these findings show that matrix remodeling after assembly is linked closely to initial changes in Ca2+ and Pi to subsequent cellular hypertrophy and mineralization. These changes involve a progressive and selective removal of types II and IX collagens with the retention of the PG aggrecan. [source]


Collagen Metabolism Is Markedly Altered in the Hypertrophic Cartilage of Growth Plates from Rats with Growth Impairment Secondary to Chronic Renal Failure

JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2001
Jesús Álvarez
Abstract Skeletal growth depends on growth plate cartilage activity, in which matrix synthesis by chondrocytes is one of the major processes contributing to the final length of a bone. On this basis, the present work was undertaken to ascertain if growth impairment secondary to chronic renal insufficiency is associated with disturbances of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the growth plate. By combining stereological and in situ hybridization techniques, we examined the expression patterns of types II and X collagens and collagenase-3 in tibial growth plates of rats made uremic by subtotal nephrectomy (NX) in comparison with those of sham-operated rats fed ad libitum (SAL) and sham-operated rats pair-fed with NX (SPF). NX rats were severely uremic, as shown by markedly elevated serum concentrations of urea nitrogen, and growth retarded, as shown by significantly decreased longitudinal bone growth rates. NX rats showed disturbances in the normal pattern of chondrocyte differentiation and in the rates and degree of substitution of hypertrophic cartilage with bone, which resulted in accumulation of cartilage at the hypertrophic zone. These changes were associated with an overall decrease in the expression of types II and X collagens, which was especially marked in the abnormally extended zone of the hypertrophic cartilage. Unlike collagen, the expression of collagenase-3 was not disturbed severely. Electron microscopic analysis proved that changes in gene expression were coupled to alterations in the mineralization as well as in the collagen fibril architecture at the hypertrophic cartilage. Because the composition and structure of the ECM have a critical role in regulating the behavior of the growth plate chondrocytes, results obtained are consistent with the hypothesis that alteration of collagen metabolism in these cells could be a key process underlying growth retardation in uremia. [source]


Immunohistological analysis of transglutaminase factor XIIIA expression in mouse embryonic growth plate

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002
M. V. Nurminskaya
Abstract Previously we demonstrated the expression of Factor XIIIA (FXIIIA), a coagulation transglutaminase, in avian embryonic growth plate. To explore whether FXIIIA is also expressed by chondrocytes of the mammalian cartilage anlagen of bones, we analyzed the mouse embryonic growth plate by immunostaining using anti-FXIIIA antibodies developed against human and chicken proteins. We revealed the expression of FXIIIA in the epiphyseal growth plate, where FXIIIA appears first intracellularly in the zone of proliferation/maturation, and remains intra- and extracellularly throughout the hypertrophic zone. Externalization of FXIIIA occurs before mineralization. Transglutaminase activity was assayed in organ cultures using rhodamine-labeled synthetic substrate Pro,Val,Lys,Gly. Enzymatic activity shows a restricted distribution in cartilage and correlates with FXIIIA expression pattern, suggesting that cartilagenous transglutaminase activity is due, at least partially, to the FXIIIA isoform. We conclude, that coagulation factor FXIIIA is expressed by chondrocytes of embryonic mouse long bone cartilages in a strictly regulated pattern, which correlates with chondrocyte differentiation and matrix mineralization. © 2002 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. [source]


Akt1 in murine chondrocytes controls cartilage calcification during endochondral ossification under physiologic and pathologic conditions

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 3 2010
Atsushi Fukai
Objective To examine the role of the phosphoinositide-dependent serine/threonine protein kinase Akt1 in chondrocytes during endochondral ossification. Methods Skeletal phenotypes of homozygous Akt1-deficient (Akt1,/,) mice and their wild-type littermates were compared in radiologic and histologic analyses. An experimental osteoarthritis (OA) model was created by surgically inducing instability in the knee joints of mice. For functional analyses, we used primary costal and articular chondrocytes from neonatal mice and mouse chondrogenic ATDC5 cells with retroviral overexpression of constitutively active Akt1 or small interfering RNA (siRNA) for Akt1. Results Among the Akt isoforms (Akt1, Akt2, and Akt3), Akt1 was the most highly expressed in chondrocytes, and the total level of Akt protein was decreased in Akt1,/, chondrocytes, indicating a dominant role of Akt1. Akt1,/, mice exhibited dwarfism with normal proliferative and hypertrophic zones but suppressed cartilage calcification in the growth plate compared with their wild-type littermates. In mice with surgically induced OA, calcified osteophyte formation, but not cartilage degradation, was prevented in the Akt1,/, joints. Calcification was significantly suppressed in cultures of Akt1,/, chondrocytes or ATDC5 cells overexpressing siRNA for Akt1 and was enhanced in ATDC5 cells overexpressing constitutively active Akt1. Neither proliferation nor hypertrophic differentiation was affected by the gain or loss of function of Akt1. The expression of ANK and nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1, which accumulate pyrophosphate, a crucial calcification inhibitor, was enhanced by Akt1 deficiency or siRNA for Akt1 and was suppressed by constitutively active Akt1. Conclusion Our findings indicate that Akt1 in chondrocytes controls cartilage calcification by inhibiting pyrophosphate during endochondral ossification in skeletal growth and during osteophyte formation in OA. [source]