Abstract
Summary
Bovine articular cartilage synthesizes collagen containing three identical chains, α l(II). Treatment with rat liver lysosomes or certain individual enzymes changes this synthetic pattern to a fibroblast-type (αl)2.α2 collagen. Similar alteration can also be observed after prolonged incubation of cartilage in vitro without addition of any exogenous factors or in the presence of vitamin A, which is known to be a lysosomal labilizer. It is possible that the endogenous lysosomal activity is released by aging in vitro, leading to the dedifferentiation of chon-drocytes.
This research was supported by NIH Special Fellowship No. AM-53414. The author greatfully acknowledges the helpful criticism by Dr. M. E. Nimni and thanks Dr. Marvin Meyers for providing the surgical specimens.
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