Cartilage Flashcards
What is the difference between ligaments and tendons?
Ligaments stabilize joints (bone to bone) while muscles provide strong flexible connections between muscles and bones
What is OCD?
disease of articular cartilage in epiphysis of growing animals. Chronic lameness, severe pain from lesions detaching cartilage from underlying bone. Mostly in horses.
Is cartilage vascular? Can it regenerate well?
No
Avasuclar, no innervations. poor capability of regeneration
What are the stem cells of bone and cartilage?
mesenchymal cells
What is the perichondrium?
Condensed connective tissue at the periphery of mature cartilage that can give rise to chondroblasts
What is the ground substance composed of?
GAGs bound to proteoglycans
Chondrocytes have an active role in the synthesis of ______ and _______
ground substance and the fibrous elements of cartilage matrix
Do chondrocytes form cell-to-cell contacts?
no
What are some prominent features of chondrocytes?
lipid droplets, small nuclei, basophilic and granular cytoplasm rich in glycogen
what is the name of the main structural glycoprotein?
chondronectin
Cartilage matrix is acidophilic or basophilic? Why?
basophilic due to high concentration of GAGs
Which matrix is more basophilic? Territorial or Interterritorial?
Territorial, closer to the chondrocytes. GAGs more abundant
What two ways can cartilage grow?
interstitial and appositional
How is cartilage classified?
by the amount of collagen or elastic fibers in the extracellular matrix
hyaline cartilage is reinforced by what type of collagen fibers? What does it stain?
type II
slightly basophilic
Where is hyaline cartilage found?
fetal axial and appendicular skeletons, growth plates, articular cartilage, costo-chondroal junctions, nasal septum, larynx, tracheal rings, bronchi
What type of cartilage does not have a perichondrium?
articular and fibrocartilage
what are the three main zones of the growth plate of hyaline cartilage and what direction do they go?
zone of reserve, proliferation, hypertrophy
towards center of bone
where is elastic cartilage found?
larynx, external auditory canal and ear pinna?
what kind of cartilage is found in the epiglottis?
elastic cartilage
what kind of cartilage has the largest lacunae?
elastic
can fibrocartilage regenerate?
no because it lacks a perichondrium
why type of collagenous fibers does fibrocartilage have?
type I
What are inactive fibroblasts called?
fibrocytes
Where is fibrocartilage found?
places that need tensile strength and support
intervertebral discs, menisci, mandibular symphysis, pubic symphysis
What part of an intervertebral disc contains fibrocartilage, compressing the spinal cord?
annulus fibrosus
what type of cartilage is characterized by rows of chondrocytes?
fibrocartilage
what kind of cartilage is found in the nasal septum?
hyaline cartilage
