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The effect of chondrocyte growth factor on membrane transport by articular chondrocytes in monolayer culture.

Chondrocyte growth factor (CGF), a contaminant of pituitary glycoprotein hormones, stimulates growth of cultured lapine articular chondrocytes while depressing SO4-proteoglycan synthesis. To study its effect on membrane transport, NIH-bTSH and two other preparations with comparable CGF activity were employed. In early log phase (36 hr) cultures CGF (64 microgram/ml) did not alter thymidine (dThd) uptake during the first 5 min. By 15 min however, TCA-precipitable dThd was 4-fold greater than in controls while the TCA-soluble fraction remained the same. CGF increased deoxy-glucose (DG) uptake in 36-hr old cultures. At 66 hr, CGF reduced DG transport. The transport of cycloleucine (CL) and aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) was reduced by CGF in 36 and 66-hr old cultures. There was a dose dependency between CGF concentration, the lowered uptake of DG, CL and AIB, and cell protein content. The effect of CGF on DG transport and dThd incorporation into DNA was not immediate but required prior exposure of the cells to CGF. CGF did not alter DG transport in rabbit or mouse fibrocytes or Chang liver cells. This and the reported finding that pituitary fibroblast growth factor (FGF), increases amino acid transport in other cells suggests that the biological specificity of CGF may not be identical to that of FGF.

Aminoisobutyric Acids

Synthesis and extracellular deposition of fibronectin in chondrocyte cultures. Response to the removal of extracellular cartilage matrix.

Fibronectin, the major cell surface glycoprotein of fibroblasts, is absent from differentiated cartilage matrix and chondrocytes in situ. However, dissociation of embryonic chick sternal cartilage with collagenase and trypsin, followed by inoculation in vitro reinitiates fibronectin synthesis by chondrocytes. Immunofluorescence microscopy with antibodies prepared against plasma fibronectin (cold insoluble globulin [CIG]) reveals fibronectin associated with the chondrocyte surface. Synthesis and secretion of fibronectin into the medium are shown by anabolic labeling with [35S]methionine or [3H]glycine, and identification of the secreted proteins by immunoprecipitation and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-disc gel electrophoresis. When chondrocytes are plated onto tissue culture dishes, the pattern of surface-associated fibronectin changes from a patchy into a strandlike appearance. Where epithelioid clones of polygonal chondrocytes develop, only short strands of fibronectin appear preferentially at cellular interfaces. This pattern is observed as long as cells continue to produce type II collagen that fails to precipitate as extracellular collagen fibers for some time in culture. Using the immunofluorescence double-labeling technique, we demonstrate that fibroblasts as well as chondrocytes which synthesize type I collagen and deposit this collagen as extracellular fibers show a different pattern of extracellular fibronectin that codistributes in large parts with collagen fibers. Where chondrocytes begin to accumulate extracellular cartilage matrix, fibronectin strands disappear. From these observations, we conclude (a) that chondrocytes synthesize fibronectin only in the absence of extracellular cartilage matrix, and (b) that fibronectin forms only short intercellular "stitches" in the absence of extracellular collagen fibers in vitro.

Cartilage

Transformation of chicken chondrocytes by Rous sarcoma virus.

Chicken chondrocytes isolated from 11-day-old chicken vertebrate cartilage were transformed by Rous sarcoma virus ts LA24 of the Prague strain as well as by the wild-type Prague strain of Rous sarcoma virus. The morphology of chondrocytes transformed by Rous sarcoma virus ts LA 24 was dependent on the temperature, and the change was reversible. A similar but irreversible change in morphology was observed with chondrocytes transformed by wild-type virus. Hyaluronic acid production and deoxyglucose transport were markedly increased in the transformed chondrocytes. A marked increase of labeled acetate incorporation was observed with the transformed chondrocytes. In contrast to the normal chondrocytes, the labeled hyaluronic acid synthesized by the transformed chondrocytes was mostly released into the culture medium.

Animals

Enhanced cellular fibronectin accumulation in chondrocytes treated with vitamin A.

Chick sternal chondrocytes cultured at high cell density lack fibronectin as a surface protein, while vitamin A-treated chondrocytes contain it as the major cell surface protein. We investigated the mechanism of fibronectin accumulation under these conditions. Control chondrocytes synthesized nearly as much fibronectin as vitamin A-treated chondrocytes, but it was secreted primarily into culture medium. Althought the fibronectin of control chondrocytes was of a slightly lower apparent molecular weight than the fibronectin synthesized by the treated cells, it bound as effectively to the cell layer of both normal and treated cells. In contrast, the vitamin A-treated cultures were 2.7 fold more effective in binding fibronectin synthesized by either control or treated cells. Thus in chondrocytes, vitamin A appears to regulate the cellular accumulation of fibronectin by increasing the ability of the cell layer to bind fibronectin rather than by altering its synthesis or its adhesivity for the cell layer.

Animals

Maturation of rabbit auricular chondrocytes grown in vitro in monolayer culture.

Chondrocytes isolated from auricular cartilage of 7-day-old rabbits were grown in vitro until the onset of phase III, occurring after 10-14 population doublings (PD). The size of cells and their dry mass were measured at various PD levels. These data were compared with results of analogous measurements of chondrocytes freshly isolated from 28-day-old rabbits. Both in vivo, during cartilage growth, and in vitro, some of the chondrocytes increased considerably in size and acquired two nuclei. Chondrocytes cultured in vitro for 4 population doublings were still capable of depositing elastic fibers in culture and forming cartilage after intramuscular transplantation. After longer periods of cultivation the ability of cells to produce a cartilage matrix declined. It is suggested that the auricular chondrocytes may represent a convenient model for comparative studies of cell aging in culture and in vivo, owing to the simplicity of matching senescent cells arising in both these situations.

Age Factors

Chondroitin sulfate and electron lucent bodies in the pericellular rim about unshrunken hypertrophied chondrocytes of chick long bone.

Direct observation of unstained, 1 mm thick blocks of fresh epiphyseal cartilage from tibia of 15- and 18-day-old chick embryos revealed shrunken chondrocytes on its cut surfaces but unshrunken chondrocytes deep within the tissue blocks. The unshrunken hypertrophied chondrocytes are rimmed with refractile substance identified as chondroitin sulfate removable with hyaluronidase. This substance is stained metachromatically red with toluidine blue, and is stained with ruthenium red and with ruthenium red-OsO4. The latter, observed with the electron microscope, is present as an electron dense rim, specifically about the unshrunken, hypertrophied chondrocytes between the plasma membrane and lacunar wall. By rendering the chondroitin sulfate electron dense with RR-OsO4, electron lucent bodies (ELB) were revealed specifically about the hypertrophied chondrocytes. The ELB contain an electron dense core with radiating fibrils. The content and source of ELB, also found in the intercellular matrix, are not known. The 0.1% toluidine blue solution containing 0.2 M MgC12 or 0.4% NaCl or KCl stained juxtanuclear clusters of granules metachromatically red. The location of intracellular granules was believed to represent a cluster of Golgi-derived vesicles. The pericellular metachromatic, RR-OsO4-positive rim is believed to be an accumulation of externalized juxtanuclear metachromatic granules. The possibility that the ELB may also be externalized content of Golgi vesicles was entertained.

Animals

Bone formation in cartilage produced by transplanted epiphyseal chondrocytes.

Chondrocytes were isolated from rat epiphyseal cartilage, cultured in vitro, and exposed to exogenous tracers which accumulated in their lysosomes. The cells were then injected into the posterior tibial muscle of animals from the same outbred strain, where they reconstructed calcifying hyaline cartilage. The mineralization of the tissue was followed by ingrowth of blood capillaries from the host bed. Macrophage-like cells surrounding the vessels phagocytized degenerated chondrocytes and unmineralized matrix, whereas multinucleated chondroclasts removed some of the mineralized cartilage matrix. Mesenchyme-like cells accompanying the invading vessels attached to the remaining septa of calcified cartilage matrix and developed into osteoblasts depositing bone matrix on the surface of these septa. The apparent lack of inherent tracer labeling of the lysosomes in the different bone cells indicate that they were derived from the host. No signs of transformation of chondrocytes into bone cells were observed. When isolated rat epiphyseal chondrocytes were injected into the wall of the hamster cheek pouch, calcifying cartilage was reconstructed without signs of subsequent ossification. Transplantation of cartilage reconstructed in the hamster into the dorsal muscles of rats was, however, followed by formation of bone by a sequence analogous to that described above. Such an osteogenetic response was also obtained when the cartilage had been devitalized before transplantation. These experiments show that calcified cartilage, developing in or grafted into an intramuscular site, is able to induce and serve as a substrate for endochondral bone formation, similar to that occurring during normal development. They further indicate that bone induction by calcified cartilage does not require the presence of living chondrocytes.

Animals

Ultrastructural localization of alkaline phosphatase in the hypertrophic chondrocyte of the frog.

The ultrastructural localization of alkaline phosphatase was studied in the hypertrophic chondrocyte of the frog (Rana temporaria) by incubating sections of glutaraldehyde fixed tissue in a medium containing sodium beta glycerophosphate and calcium chloride. Control specimens were incubated in substrate free medium. Alkaline phosphatase (orthophosphoric monoester phosphohydrolase) is a high molecular weight glycoprotein that hydrolyses phosphorylated metabolites much as acid phosphatase does except that its action is optimal at an alkaline pH. The results of this investigation showed that alkaline phosphatase activity was present within the cytoplasm and around the plasma membrane of frog hypertrophic chondrocytes. Although only a small proportion of frog hypertrophic chondrocytes demonstrated enzyme activity, there was evidence that this was concentrated within Golgi lamellae and vesicles leaving other organelles unreactive. The finding of alkaline phosphatase activity within Golgi lamellae of hypertrophic chondrocytes is regarded as unusual although postitive reactions within chondrocyte lysosomes have previously been reported (Doty and Schofield, 1976).

Alkaline Phosphatase

Cellular transformation and differentiation. Effect of Rous sarcoma virus transformation on sulfated proteoglycan synthesis by chicken chondrocytes.

Incorporation of sulfate into sulfated proteoglycans by isolated chicken chondrocytes was inhibited up to 74% by transformation with the Rous sarcoma virus, and a similar inhibitory effect was observed on acetate incorporation into chondroitin sulfate. Slower sedimenting sulfated proteoglycans appear after the viral transformation. The ratio of chondroitin 4-sulfate to chondroitin 6-sulfate in these slower sedimenting sulfated proteoglycans was different from that of normal chondrocytes, but the chain lengths of sulfated glycosaminoglycans produced by normal chondrocytes and transformed chondrocytes were not significantly different. Chondrocytes were also infected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of RSV, ts LA24, which has a temperature-sensitive lesion in the transforming gene. Hyaluronic acid production by these cells was increased, and the slower sedimenting sulfated proteoglycan was produced only at the permissive temperature.

Acetates

Enhancement of [3H-methyl]thymidine incorporation and replication of rat chondrocytes grown in tissue culture by plasma, tissue extracts and vasopressin.

A pituitary mitogenic peptide, which stimulates cellular replication of a variety of cells maintained in tissue culture, has been identified by other investigators. To study this mitogenic substance, we developed an assay to measure mitogenic substances utilizing fetal rat chondrocytes grown in monolayer culture. Mitogenic activity of added test substances was determined by [3H-methyl]thymidine incorporation into trichloroacetic acid insoluble cell products and increase in total cell number after 24 h exposure. Extracts of whole pituitary glands were more potent in stimulating these cellular indices than either those of liver or muscle, confirming that the chondrocytes are sensitive to the described mitogen. Identically prepared extracts of either anterior or posterior pituitary lobes were mitogenic indicating the presence of two or more mitogenic substances in crude pituitary extracts. Synthetic lysine vasopressin and a beef pitressin concentrate stimulated thymidine incorporation into chondrocytes in the absence of calf serum and this effect was additive to that of calf serum, suggesting that the mitogenic substance of posterior pituitary extracts was vasopressin. The maximum effective dose of vasopressin leading to an increase in either thymidine incorporation or total cell number was between 100 to 500 pg/ml, and as little as 50 pg/ml of hormone elicited an increase in total cell number. The mitogenic effect of both vasopressin and calf serum on chondrocytes was partially inhibited by 1 X 10(-4)M N, O'dibutryl cyclic adenosine 3',5' monophosphate suggesting that cell division of chrondrocytes may be under tonic control by the andenylyl cyclase system. We conclude that vasopressin is a potent mitogen for chondrocytes maintained in tissue culture and its presence must be rigorously excluded in evaluating mitogenic activity of pituitary or serum concentrates.

Animals

Shedding of hyaluronate from the cell surface of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chondrocytes.

Transformation of cultured chick embryo chondrocytes with Rous sarcoma virus gives rise to increased incorporation of isotopic precursors into hyaluronate and decreased incorporation into chondroitin 6-sulfate. Chemical measurements of these glycosaminoglycans showed corresponding changes. Comparison of the kinetics of production of glycosaminoglycan by normal and Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chondrocytes demonstrated (i) that the rate of accumulation in the medium was similar in both cultures, and (ii) that approximately 50% of total glycosaminoglycan produced by the normal chondrocytes, but only 10% of that from the transformed cells, accumulated in the cell layer. Prelabel-chase experiments indicated that cell surface-associated hyaluronate, as measured by release from the cell layer by trypsin treatment, was shed rapidly into the medium and accounted for all of the hyaluronate which accumulated in the medium. Thus we conclude (i) that accumulation of cell surface-associated glycosaminoglycan is dramatically reduced in Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chondrocytes, and (ii) that hyaluronate produced by the transformed chondrocytes is first deposited in the cell-associated extracellular compartment and then rapidly shed into the medium, rather than being secreted directly into the medium.

Animals

Synthesis of collagen by chondrocytes in suspension culture: modulation by calcium, 3':5'-cyclic AMP, and prostaglandins.

Rabbit articular chondrocytes synthesize type II collagen [3alpha(1)(II)] in vivo and type I collagen [2alpha(1)(I).alpha(2)] in monolayer cultures. In suspension culture the nature of phenotype depends on extracellular Ca(2+). The relationship of Ca(2+) and 3':5'-cyclic AMP (cAMP) in regulation of collagen synthesis has been investigated. In suspension culture, cAMP levels of chondrocytes increase by 2- to 3-fold and then reach basal values regardless of the presence or absence of extracellular Ca(2+). The cells, however, synthesize primarily type II collagen in the absence of CaCl(2) in the medium and type I collagen in medium containing 1.8 mM CaCl(2). If CaCl(2) is added when intracellular cAMP levels are low, the phenotype is type I collagen. These observations minimize the role of cAMP as a second messenger in the chondrocyte culture system. Increasing endogenous cAMP with a phosphodiesterase inhibitor or adding exogenous dibutyryl-cAMP leads the cells to synthesize type I collagen, although this effect is significantly less pronounced if the medium contains ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA). Increased concentrations of cAMP may mobilize the intracellular calcium pools and activate the cells to switch their phenotypic expression. Prostaglandins E(2) and F(2)alpha, thought to be involved in rheumatoid arthritis and bone resorption, have no significant effect on cAMP content of chondrocytes and alter their collagen phenotype to a small extent.

Animals

[Chondrocyte differentiation and bone growth during the development of the cartilaginous skeleton of chickens].

Certain local alterations in functional and reproductive activity of chondrocytes were stated at the development of the cartilage skeleton. In epiphyses chondrocytes gradually pass into the phase of rest (G0) with subsequent multiplication during the process of skeletal development. In these structures biosynthesis of nonsulfated proteoglycans predominate, in time, while in other cartilage zones--that of sulfated ones. Proofs are furnished on gradual transition of epiphyseal chondrocytes into the state peculiar for cells of the proliferative zone accompanied by an intensified biosynthesis of sulfated proteoglycans and collagenous proteins. Owing to these peculiarities they can be compared with the cells of the reserve zone in the mammalian metaepiphyseal cartilage. It was stated that intensity of chondrogenesis and growth of bones are affected by several processes: intensity of chondrocyte multiplication, the rate of their repeated division in the proliferative zone, the velosity with which the cells transfer into the state of hypertrophy and the rate of the periostal bone formation at the border-line of metaphysis and diaphysis.

Animals

Matrix stiffness promotes cartilage endplate chondrocyte calcification in disc degeneration via miR-20a targeting ANKH expression.

The mechanical environment is crucial for intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). However, the mechanisms underlying the regulation of cartilage endplate (CEP) calcification by altered matrix stiffness remain unclear. In this study, we found that matrix stiffness of CEP was positively correlated with the degree of IDD, and stiff matrix, which mimicked the severe degeneration of CEP, promoted inorganic phosphate-induced calcification in CEP chondrocytes. Co-expression analysis of the miRNA and mRNA profiles showed that increasing stiffness resulted in up-regulation of miR-20a and down-regulation of decreased ankylosis protein homolog (ANKH) during inorganic phosphate-induced calcification in CEP chondrocytes. Through a dual luciferase reporter assay, we confirmed that miR-20a directly targets 3'-untranslated regions of ANKH. The inhibition of miR-20a attenuated the calcium deposition and calcification-related gene expression, whereas the overexpression of miR-20a enhanced calcification in CEP chondrocytes on stiff matrix. The rescue of ANKH expression restored the decreased pyrophosphate efflux and inhibited calcification. In clinical samples, the levels of ANKH expression were inversely associated with the degeneration degree of CEP. Thus, our findings demonstrate that the miR-20a/ANKH axis mediates the stiff matrix- promoted CEP calcification, suggesting that miR-20a and ANKH are potential targets in restraining the progression of IDD.

3' Untranslated Regions

A comparison of the responses of cultured myoblasts and chondrocytes to fibroblast and epidermal growth factors.

The effects of fibroblast and epidermal growth factors on proliferation and differentiation of cultured myoblasts and chondrocytes have been compared. FGF stimulated myoblast proliferation, as determined by monitoring levels of DNA synthesis during seven days growth in vitro and by the morphology of the cultures after myotube formation. EGF has relatively little effect on myoblast proliferation. With chondrocytes, both FGF and EGF are mitogenic and FGF's, but not EGF's effect is potentiated by dexamethasone. One implication of these results is that in the course of differentiation cell types which develop from the same embryonic origin as fibroblasts are controlled by different sets of mitogenic factors. Myoblasts become primarily dependent on mitogenic agents such as FGF while chondrocytes can respond to both FGF and EGF.

Cartilage

Stimulation of chondroitin sulfate synthesis by beta-D-xyloside in chondrocytes of the proteoglycan deficient mutant nanomelia.

The potential of nanomelic chondrocytes to synthesize chondroitin sulfate was investigated by providing the mutant cells with p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xyloside, a compound which acts as an artificial acceptor for glycosaminoglycan synthesis. Under these conditions the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate in nanomelic and normal chondrocytes is comparable. The chondroitin sulfate synthesized by the mutant is indistinguishable in molecular size and composition from that synthesized by similarly treated normal chondrocytes.

Animals

Long acting cAMP analogues enhance sulfate incorporation into matrix proteoglycans and suppress cell division of fetal rat chondrocytes in monolayer culture.

The relationship between replication and the synthesis of matrix sulfated proteoglycans was investigated with fetal rat chondrocytes grown in monolayer culture. The effect of N6 O2' dibutyryl adenosine 3', 5' cyclic monophosphate (DBcAMP), adenosine 3', 5' cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), 8 Bromo adenosine 3', 5' cyclic monophosphate (8 Br-cAMP), sodium butyrate and hydroxyurea was examined. Between 0.05 and 0.5 mM DBcAMP, a dose related inhibition of cell division and stimulation of [35SO=/4] incorporation into matrix proteoglycans was demonstrated. At the higher concentrations of DBcAMP, cell division was completely inhibited and the enhancement of [35SO=/4] incorporation into matrix proteoglycans ranged between 40 and 120% (P less than 0.01). Utilizing 14C-glucosamine and photometric determination of proteoglycans with Alcian Blue, it was demonstrated that the increase in sulfate incorporation reflected enhanced accumulation of extracellular matrix. The effects of DBcAMP were mimicked by 8 Br-cAMP, suggesting they were mediated by the adenylyl cyclase system. cAMP (0.05-0.5 mM), sodium butyrate (0.1-0.5 mM) and hydroxyurea (0.5-5 mM) partially or fully inhibited cell division, but either failed or only slightly enhanced sulfate incorporation. The enhanced sulfated proteoglycan deposition promoted by DBcAMP began 8 to 12 hours after serum stimulation, its onset occurred prior to thymidine incorporation and the effect persisted for 28 hours. Determination of cell volume demonstrated an increase in size of DBcAMP treated chondrocytes between 8 to 12 hours, coincident with the onset of increased sulfate incorporation. These results are consistent with a model where matrix sulfated proteoglycan deposition by chondrocytes is mediated by intracellular cAMP levels and occurs in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

Animals

Ca2+ transport by chondrocyte mitochondria of the epiphyseal growth plate.

In a study of the Ca2+ kinetics of mitochondria of chick epiphyseal chondrocytes, the rate of Ca2+ uptake was linear up to a medium Ca2+ concentration of 30 mum. The half maximal transport rate occurred at 34 mum Ca2+. The Ca2+ uptake rate, expressed as a function of time, was 35 nmoles/mg protein/min; the presence of Mg2+ had little effect on Ca2+ accumulation. While these kinetic parameters did not differ significantly from mitochondria of cells of nonmineralizing tissues, the respiratory characteristics of the chondrocyte organelles exhibited functional differences. Thus, up to 350 nmoles Ca2+/mg protein, chondrocyte mitochondria performed coupled oxidative phosphorylation. Calcium uptake was energy supported, while Ca2+ binding was low. Addition of respiratory inhibitors and uncouplers to these mitochondria resulted in a rapid loss of more than 80% of the total Ca2+. The Ca/Pi ratio of the extrudate was very similar to the ratio of the ions in cartilage septum fluid. In the most mineralized zones of the epiphyseal plate, there was little change in the state 4 respiratory rate, but nonspecific Ca2+ binding was elevated and a high percentage of the total Ca2+ was in a nonextrudable form. The results indicate that in cells preparing for mineralization, much of the total mitochondrial Ca2+ is in a form that can be transported to the calcification front. In cells close to the calcification front, nonextrudable Ca2+ may form calcium phosphate granules described by other investigators.

Animals