PMID: 9177918May 1, 1997Paper

Integrin expression on chondrocytes: correlations with the degree of cartilage damage in human osteoarthritis

Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology
G LapadulaV Pipitone

Abstract

To verify the distribution of different types of beta 1 integrin on the plasma membrane of chondrocytes and to correlate the pattern of integrin expression to the severity of osteoarthritis (OA). The articular cartilage of ten OA patients who had undergone surgical knee replacement for "genu varum" were studied. The cartilage was separated into three zones that macroscopically and microscopically showed a decreasing degree of anatomic lesions. After enzymatic digestion, the isolated chondrocytes were immediately challenged with monoclonal antibodies against the beta 1, alpha 1-6 and alpha v chains. The phenotypic study was paralleled by a cell cycle analysis performed by flow cytometry on chondrocytes stained with propidium iodide. Chondrocytes isolated from the articular cartilage of osteoarthritic patients expressed, in different percentages, all the alpha chains (alpha 1-6 and alpha v) of the beta 1 integrins. The alpha chain most frequently expressed was alpha 1, followed by alpha 3, alpha 5, alpha 2 and alpha v, with lesser amounts of alpha 4 and alpha 6. The beta 1 chain was expressed (on average) on the 40% of the chondrocytes regardless of the zone they were isolated from. Differential phenotypic analysis of the three z...Continue Reading

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