Buckwalter J A, Smith K C, Kazarien L E, Rosenberg L C, Ungar R
Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Iowa City Veterans Medical Center, Iowa.
J Orthop Res. 1989;7(1):146-51. doi: 10.1002/jor.1100070121.
Articular cartilage and the intervertebral disc tissues have different material and biological properties and different patterns of aging and degeneration. To determine if the proteoglycans of these tissues differ in structure, we used the electron microscopic monolayer technique to compare baboon articular cartilage proteoglycans with baboon annulus fibrosus, transition zone, and nucleus pulposus proteoglycans. Intervertebral disc and articular cartilage proteoglycans differed significantly. Articular cartilage contained large proteoglycan aggregates formed from hyaluronic acid central filaments, multiple monomers, and large nonaggregated monomers. These molecules were identical to those of nasal cartilage, growth plate cartilage, chondrosarcomas, or menisci. In contrast, the intervertebral disc tissues contained only nonaggregated proteoglycan monomers and clusters of monomers without apparent central filaments. Intervertebral disc nonaggregated monomers were shorter and more variable in length than those from articular cartilage, and nucleus pulposus nonaggregated monomers were even shorter and more variable in length than transition zone and annulus fibrosus monomers. These observations suggest that significant differences in proteoglycan metabolism exist between articular cartilage and intervertebral disc.
关节软骨和椎间盘组织具有不同的材料和生物学特性，以及不同的老化和退变模式。为了确定这些组织中的蛋白聚糖在结构上是否存在差异，我们使用电子显微镜单层技术，将狒狒关节软骨蛋白聚糖与狒狒纤维环、过渡区和髓核蛋白聚糖进行比较。椎间盘和关节软骨蛋白聚糖存在显著差异。关节软骨含有由透明质酸中心丝、多个单体和大型非聚集单体形成的大型蛋白聚糖聚集体。这些分子与鼻软骨、生长板软骨、软骨肉瘤或半月板的分子相同。相比之下，椎间盘组织仅含有非聚集的蛋白聚糖单体和没有明显中心丝的单体簇。椎间盘非聚集单体比关节软骨的非聚集单体更短且长度变化更大，髓核非聚集单体比过渡区和纤维环单体更短且长度变化更大。这些观察结果表明，关节软骨和椎间盘之间在蛋白聚糖代谢方面存在显著差异。
