Apoptosis of chondrocytes in transgenic mice lacking collagen II. Academic Article

abstract

• Previous work demonstrated that collagen fibrils were not detectable in the cartilage of transgenic mice homozygous for targeted inactivation of the collagen II gene. In the present work, we used the same mice to show that chondrocytes undergo apoptosis in the absence of collagen II, the major component of the extracellular matrix of cartilage. The chondrocytes in the homozygous mice had condensed nuclei, fragmentation of nuclear DNA, and decreased levels of the Bcl-2 protein. These results provide direct evidence that cartilage extracellular matrix lacking collagen II cannot support the survival of chondrocytes. In addition, the results suggest that apoptosis may play a role in degenerative connective tissue diseases such as osteoarthritis in which there is extensive tissue loss.

authors

• Prockop, Darwin

published proceedings

• Exp Cell Res

author list (cited authors)

• Yang, C., Li, S. W., Helminen, H. J., Khillan, J. S., Bao, Y., & Prockop, D. J.

citation count

• 98

complete list of authors

• Yang, C||Li, SW||Helminen, HJ||Khillan, JS||Bao, Y||Prockop, DJ

publication date

• January 1997

publisher

• Elsevier  Publisher

published in

• Experimental Cell Research  Journal

keywords

• Animals
• Apoptosis
• Cartilage, Articular
• Collagen
• Extracellular Matrix
• Mice
• Mice, Transgenic
• Proto-Oncogene Proteins C-bcl-2

PubMed Central ID

• 9299161

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1006/excr.1997.3692

start page

• 370

end page

• 373

volume

• 235

issue

• 2

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/excr.1997.3692