The collagen fibril organization in human articular cartilage

Abstract

In this scanning electron microscopic study blocks of collagen fibrils were prepared from human articular cartilage, using two techinques which selectively removed either the proteoglycans alone, or both the proteoglycans and the collagen fibrils, of the non-calcified cartilage layer. Amino acid analysis of the fibrils confirmed the purity of the collagen after proteoglycan extraction. The cartilage was scanned in four different ways: (1) normal to the articular surface, (2) in superficial sections, (3) on surfaces of blocks which had been broken in planes parallel to artificial splits make by the insertion of a pin, and (4) on fracture surfaces which traversed the calcified cartilage and the subchondral bone. Five features of the organization of the collagen fibrils were specially noted: (1) Individual fibrils within the trabeculae joined to form small fibre bundles which became grouped into larger bundles at the calcified/uncalcified interface. (2) Fibrils in the deep and middle zones which, exhibiting the characteristic surface periodicity of collagen, were generally oriented towars the articular surface in large bundles approximately 55 micronm across. (3) In the superficial zone, fibrils ran parallel to the surface. (4) The surface fibrils had random orientation, even at the bases of empty lacunae vacated by chondrocytes during specimen preparation. (5) The collagen fibrils of the lacunar walls appeared to be thinner and more closely packed than thos between the lacunae. The fine collagen fibrils associated with the lacunar walls were frequently observed to pass through a large lacunar space, resulting in the formation of two or more compartments, each of which was presumably filled with a chondrocyte in the living cartilage.