Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein: isolation and characterization from human articular cartilage.

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein was purified in a native form from normal adult human articular cartilage. The key steps in the purification scheme were selective extraction with buffer containing EDTA, wheat germ agglutinin affinity chromatography, and removal of the related protein thrombospondin by heparin affinity chromatography. Particles of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein viewed by electron microscopy after rotary shadowing revealed structures similar to the prototype molecule purified from Swarm rat chondrosarcoma. The protein demonstrated a bouquet-like five-armed structure, with peripheral globular domains connected by thin flexible strands to a central assembly domain. Immunohistochemistry revealed age-dependent differences in the protein's distribution in cartilage. In normal human adult articular cartilage, there was a relatively uniform distribution throughout the interterritorial extracellular matrix, whereas in fetal articular cartilage, immunostaining was localized to the extracellular matrix directly adjacent to the chondrocytes. The isolation and characterization of human cartilage oligomeric matrix protein will facilitate its study in pathological conditions of human cartilage.