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Updated: Dec 23, 2025
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Culture of Murine Embryonic Metatarsals: A Physiological Model of Endochondral Ossification
Published on: December 3, 2016
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Maturity-dependent cartilage cell plasticity and sensitivity to external perturbation
Shannon K Walsh1, Stephanie E Schneider2, Laura A Amundson3
1Comparative Biomedical Sciences Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
|April 24, 2020
Summary
Articular cartilage shows changing cell markers and gene expression with age. Younger cartilage is more adaptable, while mature cartilage loses plasticity, impacting regeneration and osteoarthritis risk.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Articular cartilage changes biologically and morphologically during maturation.
- Osteoarthritis prevalence in aging populations suggests maturation impacts cartilage degradation and regeneration.
- The precise mechanisms of age-related cartilage changes are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the cellular and genetic profile of articular cartilage.
- To assess cartilage biological plasticity in response to mechanical and culture stimuli.
- To investigate these changes as a function of animal maturity.
Main Methods:
- Porcine articular cartilage explants from immature, adolescent, and mature animals were used.
- Explants were subjected to mechanical loading or served as controls.
- Flow cytometry, qPCR, and histology were employed to analyze progenitor cell markers, matrix synthesis genes, and tissue morphology.
Main Results:
- Chondroprogenitor marker expression (CD105, CD29) decreased with maturity, while CD44 increased.
- Matrix synthesis genes were generally upregulated in mature cartilage; adolescent cartilage showed lowest expression.
- Younger cartilage exhibited greater plasticity to mechanical loading and culture time, with distinct profiles across maturity.
Conclusions:
- Cartilage exhibits differential, nonlinear expression of chondroprogenitor markers and matrix genes with maturity.
- Aging leads to a loss of biological plasticity in articular cartilage.
- These findings suggest implications for age-related regenerative capacity decline and osteoarthritis progression.
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