Radiocarbon dating reveals minimal collagen turnover in both healthy and osteoarthritic human cartilage

Katja M. Heinemeier, Peter Schjerling, Jan Heinemeier, Mathias B. Moller, Michael R. Krogsgaard, Tomas Grum-Schwensen, Michael M. Petersen, Michael Kjaer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

119 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The poor regenerative capacity of articular cartilage presents a major clinical challenge and may relate to a limited turnover of the cartilage collagen matrix. However, the collagen turnover rate during life is not clear, and it is debated whether osteoarthritis (OA) can influence it. Using the carbon-14 ( 14C) bomb-pulse method, life-long replacement rates of collagen were measured in tibial plateau cartilage from 23 persons born between 1935 and1997 (15 and 8 persons with OA and healthy cartilage, respectively). The 14C levels observed in cartilage collagen showed that, virtually, no replacement of the collagen matrix happened after skeletal maturity and that neither OA nor tissue damage, per se, influenced collagen turnover. Regional differences in 14C content across the joint surface showed that cartilage collagen located centrally on the joint surface is formed several years earlier than collagen located peripherally. The collagen matrix of human articular cartilage is an essentially permanent structure that has no significant turnover in adults, even with the occurrence of disease.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberARTN 346ra90
JournalScience Translational Medicine
Volume8
Issue346
Number of pages9
ISSN1946-6234
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Jul 2016

Keywords

  • HUMAN ARTICULAR-CARTILAGE
  • ACID RACEMIZATION
  • METABOLIC ABNORMALITIES
  • PROTEIN-TURNOVER
  • ASPARTIC-ACID
  • II COLLAGEN
  • HUMAN HIPS
  • AGE
  • ACCUMULATION
  • AGGRECAN

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