ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the various forms of hyaline cartilage and its chondrocytes, since it is this type which is most frequently used for experimental studies and is of greatest significance in pathology. In hyaline cartilages, the cellular and matrix components generally constitute about 10 and 90%, respectively, of the tissue volume. The chondrocytes themselves pass through a well-defined series of activities during their life span, these being recapitulated in sequence within a cell column from the epiphyseal to the metaphyseal aspect of the growth plate. The degree to which chondrocytes are able to remodel calcified cartilage tissue is somewhat less than is possible in unmineralized cartilage, this role being undertaken principally by osteoclasts. Chondrocytes maintained in vitro readily undergo changes in both their morphological and functional characteristics. Young chondrocytes may also lose their capacity to undergo further differentiation.
