Targeted Loss of Proteoglycans Results in Changes of Frequency-Dependent Viscoelastic Behavior of the Intact Articular Cartilage

Author(s):  
Simon Y. Tang ◽  
Tamara Alliston

Cartilage is a multi-phasic, viscoelastic material that derives its mechanical behavior of its primary constituents including collagen, proteoglycans, and water. The complex mechanical function of cartilage depends critically on the composition and balance of these constituents. We sought to determine the effects of proteoglycan loss on both the time- and frequency-dependent mechanical behavior of articular cartilage. Using cathepsin d, an enzyme that specifically cleaves proteoglycans, we assessed the in situ mechanical behavior of intact bovine articular cartilage before and after enzymatic digestion using microindentation over loading frequencies ranging between 0.5 hz to 20 hz. The loss of proteoglycans does not affect the elastic components of mechanical behavior (indentation modulus; p = 0.67), but have significant consequences on the viscoelastic components (tan δ; p<0.001). Moreover, the changes in the viscoelastic mechanical behavior are more pronounced at higher loading frequencies (p<0.001). Taken together, these results suggest that proteoglycans are critical for providing dynamic stability for the cartilage tissue.

Author(s):  
Jiayue Shen ◽  
Wenting Gu ◽  
Xavier-lewis Palmer ◽  
Siqi Guo ◽  
Zhili Hao

By using a newly-developed experimental technique that is enabled by a polymer-based microfluidic device for detecting distributed normal loads, a preliminary study is presented on the synchronized heterogeneous indentation and stress relaxation behavior of articular cartilage upon macroscopic compression. In a measurement, a rigid cylinder probe is employed to exert macroscopic indentation or step input to a cartilage sample on the device. Consequently, the synchronized heterogeneous viscoelastic behavior of the sample translates to distributed normal loads acting on the device and is captured by the device. While the macroscopic load acting on a sample is recorded by a load cell, the deflections of a sample along its length are captured by the device. Thus, the measured results essentially are the load-deflection relations of a sample along its length. Full-thickness lapine and bovine articular cartilage samples are prepared and measured. A thorough data analysis is implemented on the recorded data for extracting their instant and relaxed indentation modulus, as well as Young’s relaxation modulus.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan K. Temple ◽  
Anna A. Cederlund ◽  
Bernard M. Lawless ◽  
Richard M. Aspden ◽  
Daniel M. Espino

Author(s):  
Ali Vahdati ◽  
Diane R. Wagner

Articular cartilage (AC) disease and especially osteoarthrithis (OA) are debilitating conditions that are associated with huge social and economic burdens. To understand the factors involved in initiation and progression of OA, the mechanical state of the cartilage tissue must be first understood [1]. Biphasic and triphasic models developed by Mow and coworkers relate AC structure with its mechanical behavior and provided researchers with valuable models for AC biomechanics [2, 3]. Although much is known about AC and its mechanical properties, the zone of calcified cartilage (ZCC) has been sparsely studied. ZCC is very thin and highly interdigitated with subchondral bone (SB) which makes it very difficult to isolate for independent study [4]. It is well known that SB plays an important role in both initiation and/or progression of OA [5], thus ZCC may also be an important player in the pathology of the disease [6]. A few studies have investigated mechanical properties of ZCC, but conflicting results have been published on ZCC permeability. Although ZCC has been mainly assumed to be impermeable [7], recently Hwang et al. [8] suggested that ZCC may have even higher permeability than cartilage itself. We studied the effect of ZCC permeability on mechanical behavior of AC using a finite element (FE) model.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 583-595
Author(s):  
Xiuyu Wang ◽  
Yan Lu ◽  
Wan Wang ◽  
Qiguang Wang ◽  
Jie Liang ◽  
...  

Abstract Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based biomaterials are promising candidates in cartilage tissue engineering by simulating the native microenvironment to regulate the chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) without exogenous growth factors. The biological properties of ECM scaffolds are primarily depended on the original source, which would directly influence the chondrogenic effects of the ECM materials. Despite the expanding investigations on ECM scaffolds in recent years, the selection of optimized ECM materials in cartilage regeneration was less reported. In this study, we harvested and compared the articular cartilage ECM from newborn, juvenile and adult rabbits. The results demonstrated the significant differences in the mechanical strength, sulphated glycosaminoglycan and collagen contents of the different aged ECM, before and after decellularization. Consequently, different compositional and mechanical properties were shown in the three ECM-based collagen hydrogels, which exerted age-dependent chondrogenic inducibility. In general, both in vitro and in vivo results suggested that the newborn ECM promoted the most chondrogenesis of BMSCs but led to severe matrix calcification. In contrast, BMSCs synthesized the lowest amount of cartilaginous matrix with minimal calcification with adult ECM. The juvenile ECM achieved the best overall results in promoting chondrogenesis of BMSCs and preventing matrix calcification. Together, this study provides important information to our current knowledge in the design of future ECM-based biomaterials towards a successful repair of articular cartilage.


2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 1313-1323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghada A. Nofal ◽  
Cheryl B. Knudson

The proteoglycan-rich extracellular matrix (ECM) directly associated with the cells of articular cartilage is anchored to the chondrocyte plasma membrane via interaction with the hyaluronan receptor CD44. The cytoplasmic tail of CD44 interacts with the cortical cytoskeleton. The objective of this study was to determine the role of the actin cytoskeleton in CD44-mediated matrix assembly by chondrocytes and cartilage matrix retention and homeostasis. Adult bovine articular cartilage tissue slices and isolated chondrocytes were treated with latrunculin or cytochalasin. Tissues were processed for histology and chondrocytes were examined for CD44 expression and pericellular matrix assembly. Treatments that disrupt the actin cytoskeleton reduced chondrocyte pericellular matrix assembly and the retention of proteoglycan within cartilage explants. There was enhanced detection of a neoepitope resulting from proteolysis of aggrecan. Cytoskeletal disruption did not reduce CD44 expression, as monitored by flow cytometry, but detergent extraction of CD44 was enhanced and hyaluronan binding was decreased. Thus, disruption of the cytoskeleton reduces the anchorage of CD44 in the chondrocyte membrane and the capacity of CD44 to bind its ligand. The results suggest that cytoskeletal disruption within cartilage uncouples chondrocytes from the matrix, resulting in altered metabolism and deleterious changes in matrix structure.


Nukleonika ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
Nihal Kuzu ◽  
Ekrem Cicek

Abstract As radiation science and technology advances, nuclear medicine applications are increasing worldwide which necessitate the understanding of biological implications of such practices. Ionizing radiation has been shown to cause degraded matrix and reduced proteoglycan synthesis in cartilage, and the late consequences of which may include degenerative arthritis or arthropathy. Although degenerative effects of the ionizing radiation on cartilage tissue have been demonstrated, the effects on the mechanical properties of articular cartilage are largely unknown. The radiopharmaceuticals, technetium-99m and technetium-99m sestamibi, were utilized on bovine articular cartilage to investigate these effects. We used two different mechanical tests to determine the mechanical properties of articular cartilage. Dynamic and static mechanical tests were applied to calculate compressive modulus for articular cartilage. We observed clearly higher control modulus values than that of experimental groups which account for lesser stiffness in the exposed cartilage. In conclusion, compressive moduli of bovine articular cartilage were found to decrease after radiopharmaceutical exposure, after both instantaneous and equilibrium mechanical experiments.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory C. Thomas ◽  
Anna Asanbaeva ◽  
Pasquale Vena ◽  
Robert L. Sah ◽  
Stephen M. Klisch

A constituent based nonlinear viscoelastic (VE) model was modified from a previous study (Vena, et al., 2006, “A Constituent-Based Model for the Nonlinear Viscoelastic Behavior of Ligaments,” J. Biomech. Eng., 128, pp. 449–457) to incorporate a glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-collagen (COL) stress balance using compressible elastic stress constitutive equations specific to articular cartilage (AC). For uniaxial loading of a mixture of quasilinear VE constituents, time constant and relaxation ratio equations are derived to highlight how a mixture of constituents with distinct quasilinear VE properties is one mechanism that produces a nonlinear VE tissue. Uniaxial tension experiments were performed with newborn bovine AC specimens before and after ∼55% and ∼85% GAG depletion treatment with guanidine. Experimental tissue VE parameters were calculated directly from stress relaxation data, while intrinsic COL VE parameters were calculated by curve fitting the data with the nonlinear VE model with intrinsic GAG viscoelasticity neglected. Select tissue and intrinsic COL VE parameters were significantly different from control and experimental groups and correlated with GAG content, suggesting that GAG-COL interactions exist to modulate tissue and COL mechanical properties. Comparison of the results from this and other studies that subjected more mature AC tissue to GAG depletion treatment suggests that the GAGs interact with the COL network in a manner that may be beneficial for rapid volumetric expansion during developmental growth while protecting cells from excessive matrix strains. Furthermore, the underlying GAG-COL interactions appear to diminish as the tissue matures, indicating a distinctive remodeling response during developmental growth.


2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista M. Durney ◽  
Danial Sharifi Kia ◽  
Tianbai Wang ◽  
Akaljot Singh ◽  
Lucie Karbowski ◽  
...  

The ability to maintain living articular cartilage tissue in long-term culture can serve as a valuable analytical research tool, allowing for direct examination of mechanical or chemical perturbations on tissue behavior. A fundamental challenge for this technique is the recreation of the salient environmental conditions of the synovial joint in culture that are required to maintain native cartilage homeostasis. Interestingly, conventional media formulations used in explanted cartilage tissue culture investigations often consist of levels of metabolic mediators that deviate greatly from their concentrations in synovial fluid (SF). Here, we hypothesize that the utilization of a culture medium consisting of near-physiologic levels of several highly influential metabolic mediators (glucose, amino acids, cortisol, insulin, and ascorbic acid) will maintain the homeostasis of cartilage explants as assessed by their mechanical properties and extracellular matrix (ECM) contents. Results demonstrate that the aforementioned mediators have a strong effect on the mechanical and biochemical stability of skeletally immature bovine cartilage explants. Most notably, (1) in the absence of cortisol, explants exhibit extensive swelling and tissue softening and (2) in the presence of supraphysiologic levels of anabolic mediators (glucose, amino acids, insulin), explants exhibit increased matrix accumulation and tissue stiffening. In contrast, the administration of physiologic levels of these mediators (as present in native SF) greatly improves the stability of live cartilage explants over one month of culture. These results may have broad applicability for articular cartilage and other musculoskeletal tissue research, setting the foundation for important culture formulations required for examinations into tissue behavior.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0250244
Author(s):  
Jan P. Engelhardt ◽  
Andy Schütte ◽  
Svetlana Hetjens ◽  
Gregor Reisig ◽  
Markus L. Schwarz

Introduction We saw a lack of data on the biomechanical behavior of degenerated articular cartilage (OA) compared with that of healthy cartilage, even though the susceptibility to wear and tear of articular cartilage plays a key role in the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Therefore, we performed a comparison between naturally occurring OA and healthy cartilage from pigs, before and after tribological stress. Aim The aim of the study was to compare OA-cartilage with healthy cartilage and to analyze the resilience to tribological shear stress, which will be measured as height loss (HL), and to friction forces of the cartilage layers. The findings will be substantiated in macro- and microscopical evaluations before and after tribological exposure. Methods We assessed stifle joints of fifteen old and sixteen young pigs from the local abattoir radiologically, macroscopically and histologically to determine possible OA alterations. We put pins from the femoral part of the joints and plates from the corresponding tibial plateaus in a pin-on-plate tribometer under stress for about two hours with about 1108 reciprocating cycles under a pressure of approximately 1 MPa. As a surrogate criterion of wear and tear, the HL was recorded in the tribometer. The heights of the cartilage layers measured before and after the tribological exposure were compared histologically. The condition of the cartilage before and after the tribological exposure was analyzed both macroscopically with an adapted ICRS score and microscopically according to Little et al. (2010). We assessed the friction forces acting between the surfaces of the cartilage pair–specimens. Results Articular cartilage taken from old pigs showed significant degenerative changes compared to that taken from the young animals. The macroscopic and microscopic scores showed strong alterations of the cartilage after the tribological exposure. There was a noticeable HL of the cartilage specimens after the first 100 to 300 cycles. The HL after tribological exposure was lower in the group of the old animals with 0.52 mm ± 0.23 mm than in the group of the young animals with 0.86 mm ± 0.26 mm (p < 0.0001). The data for the HL was validated by the histological height measurements with 0.50 mm ± 0.82 mm for the old and 0.79 mm ±0.53 mm for the young animals (p = 0.133). The friction forces measured at the cartilage of the old animals were 2.25 N ± 1.15 N and 1.89 N ± 1.45 N of the young animals (p = 0.3225). Conclusion Unlike articular cartilage from young pigs, articular cartilage from old pigs showed OA alterations. Tribological shear stress exposure revealed that OA cartilage showed less HL than healthy articular cartilage. Tribological stress exposure in a pin–on–plate tribometer seemed to be an appropriate way to analyze the mechanical stability of articular cartilage, and the applied protocol could reveal weaknesses of the assessed cartilage tissue. Friction and HL seemed to be independent parameters when degenerated and healthy articular cartilage were assessed under tribological exposure in a pin–on- plate tribometer.


2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A. Joiner ◽  
E.R. Bogoch ◽  
K.P. Pritzker ◽  
M.D. Buschmann ◽  
A. Chevrier ◽  
...  

Matrix degradation and proteoglycan loss in articular cartilag eare features of early osteoarthritis. To determine the effect of matrix degradation and proteoglycan loss on ultrasound propagation in cartilage, we used papain and interleukin-1α to degrade the matrix proteoglycans of human and bovine cartilage samples, respectively. There is also minor collagen alteration associated with these chemical degradation methods. We compared the speed of sound and frequency dependent attenuation (20–40 MHz) of control and experimental paired samples. We found that a loss of matrix proteoglycans and collagen disruption resulted in a 20–30% increase in the frequency dependent attenuation and a 2% decrease in the speed of sound in both human and bovine cartilage. We conclude that the frequency dependent attenuation and speed of sound in articular cartilage are sensitive to experimental modification of the matrix proteoglycans and collagen. These findings suggest that ultrasound can potentially be used to detect morphologic changes in articular cartilage associated with the progression of osteoarthritis.


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