Collagens—major component of the physiological cartilage matrix, major target of cartilage degeneration, major tool in cartilage repair
Section snippets
Articular cartilage—a unique tissue in the body
Joints are highly specialized organs that allow repetitive pain and largely frictionless movements. These properties are provided by the articular cartilage and its extracellular matrix which, already under physiological conditions, sustains high cyclic loading. Articular cartilage covers the joint surfaces and is mainly responsible for the unique biomechanical properties of the joints. Joints are complex composites of different types of connective tissue including (subchondral) bone, cartilage
Clinical conditions leading to cartilage degeneration: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions
Primary osteoarthritis of the large weight-bearing joints is generally spoken thought to be a result of the imbalance of physico-chemical resisting properties of the articular cartilage and applied mechanical stress. Finally, it consists of the destruction and failure of the extracellular matrix of the articular cartilage (Fig. 1). This does not exclude an important role also of other joint tissues during the disease process (Fig. 1), but the articular cartilage is thought to be the tissue,
Regenerative cartilage in osteoarthritic joints—(chondro)osteophyte formation
At the margins of joints, in particular during osteoarthritic joint degeneration, frequently (osteo)cartilaginous outgrowths appear ((chondro-)osteophytes). They are best considered as a process of secondary chondroneogenesis in the adult. Osteophytes derived from mesenchymal precursor cells within periosteal or synovial tissue often merge with or overgrow the original articular cartilage [69], [70], [71]. Thus, in this process, mesenchymal precursor cells differentiate into chondrocytes. A
Collagen—major tool in cartilage repair
The therapy of chondral defects is a major challenge for clinical management as, in particular, also young and active patients are affected. Isolated chondral lesions are clearly the focus of repair attempts at present. They have to be separated from osteoarthritic cartilage degeneration, in which the articular cartilage is diffusely degenerated and also other joint structures (namely the subchondral bone) are severely altered. Nevertheless, these apparently focal lesions represent a major risk
Perspectives
Collagens serve important mechanical functions anywhere within the body, in particular, however, in the connective tissues. Thus, in bone and articular cartilage, fibrillar collagens are providing most of the biomechanical properties essential for the functioning of these organ systems. Besides their biomechanical role, collagens exert also important functions as cellular microenvironment and also via binding and release of cellular mediators (i.e. growth factors, cytokines, etc.).
The
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge K. Gelse for his critical comments on the manuscript.
This work was supported by the Ministry of Research (grant 01GG9824) and by the Clothilde Stiftung (Ulm).
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