Cilia of neonatal articular chondrocytes: incidence and morphology

Cilia in neonatal canine articular chondrocytes were studied using morphometric techniques and transmission electron microscopy. The cilia in chondrocytes were morphologically similar to cilia in a variety of other cell types. A chondrocytic cilium consisted of a basal body and a ciliary shaft. The cylindrical basal body was 0.21 micron (S.D. = 0.01 micron) in diameter, 0.50 micron (S.D. = 0.03 micron) in length and contained nine microtubular triplets. The ciliary shaft was 0.196 micron (S.D. = 0.02 micron) in diameter and 1.76 micron (S.D. = 0.80 micron) in length. The number of microbtubular doublets in the ciliary shaft varied depending on where along the length of the shaft the section was taken. This study demonstrates that on the average the frequency of cilia in neonatal articular chondrocytes, as estimated sterologically, was about one cilium per cell.