Eyre D R, Weis M A, Wu J-J
University of Washington, Dept. of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Box 356500, Seattle, WA 98195-6500, USA.
Eur Cell Mater. 2006 Nov 2;12:57-63. doi: 10.22203/ecm.v012a07.
Adult articular cartilage by dry weight is two-thirds collagen. The collagen has a unique molecular phenotype. The nascent type II collagen fibril is a heteropolymer, with collagen IX molecules covalently linked to the surface and collagen XI forming the filamentous template of the fibril as a whole. The functions of collagens IX and XI in the heteropolymer are far from clear but, evidently, they are critically important since mutations in COLIX and COLXI genes can result in chondrodysplasia syndromes. Here we review what is known of the collagen assembly and present new evidence that collagen type III becomes covalently added to the polymeric fabric of adult human articular cartilage, perhaps as part of a matrix repair or remodelling process.
成人关节软骨按干重计算，三分之二是胶原蛋白。这种胶原蛋白具有独特的分子表型。新生的II型胶原纤维是一种杂聚物，IX型胶原分子共价连接在其表面，XI型胶原构成整个纤维的丝状模板。IX型和XI型胶原在杂聚物中的功能尚不清楚，但显然它们至关重要，因为COLIX和COLXI基因的突变会导致软骨发育异常综合征。在此，我们综述了已知的胶原蛋白组装情况，并提供了新的证据，表明III型胶原蛋白会共价添加到成人人类关节软骨的聚合物结构中，这可能是基质修复或重塑过程的一部分。
