A quantitative analysis of the ultrastructural organization of extracellular components in human articular cartilage.

Extracellular components of human articular cartilage have been studied using quantitative and ultrastructural methods. A new combination of electron microscopic, physicochemical, and mathematical methods has been proposed to study the structural organization of the fibrillar stroma, interfibrillar spaces, and structural proteoglycans. The new methodology has made it possible to isolate in the cartilage three layers with various types of spatial orientation of the fibrillar stroma. The summary volume and differential distribution of the interstitial microcirculatory channel have been derived. Proteoglycans of the integrative buffer metabolic medium have been identified using transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The data suggest a more accurate concept of the structural organization of human articular cartilage.