Lecture 7: Cartilage Flashcards
5 specialized types of connective tissue
- Cartilage
- Bone
- Ligaments
- joints
- tendons
Bone
Rigid protective and supporting framework for soft tissues
Cartilage
Avascular semi-rigid form of connective tissue characterized by absence of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and nerves
Purpose of cartilage
Supports soft tissues, very important in bone growth
Cartilage is composed of
cells which are embedded in an amorphous gel-like substance (ground substance) and CT fibers, making this tissue resilient and pliable
Mesenchymal cells
stem cells of bone and cartilage
Differentiation and maturation is most advanced where
At the center of a mass of growing cartilage
On completion of growth, the cartilage consists of
chondrocytes embedded in a large amount of extracellular matrix
Perichondrium
- Located at the periphery of mature cartilage
- Zone of condensed connective tissue
- Contains elongated fusiform cells that resemble fibroblasts and has cartilage forming potential (give rise to chondroblasts)
Perichondrium outer layer
Composed of dense fibrous connective tissue
Perichondrium inner layer
- Cellular and is present in all hyaline cartilages except on articular surfaces
- Chondrogenic, contains cells with the capacity to become chondroblasts
Ground substance is composed of
Sulfated polysaccharide units called glycosaminoglycans (GAGS)
GAGs bound to a protein core form macromolecules called
proteoglycans
Proteoglycans are responsible for
strong and flexible property of cartilage
Within the ground substance are embedded varying proportions of _____ and ____ ___ giving rise to:
collagen
elastic fibers
different types of cartilage (hyaline, elastic, fibro-cartilage)
Chondrocytes
- Mature cell
- Occupy lacunae
- Have an active role in synthesis of both the ground substance and fibrous elements of cartilage matrix
Within normal articular cartilage the only type of highly specialized cell is
the chondrocytes
Chondrocytes are arranged in clusters of __-__ fully differentiated cells called
2-4
isogenous groups
Chrondrocyte clusters are surrounded by
the extracellular matrix
Chondrocytes do not form
cell to cell contacts