The absence of type II collagen and changes in proteoglycan structure of hyaline cartilage in a case of Langer-Saldino achondrogenesis.

Structural analysis of hyaline cartilage extracellular matrix components from the ribs and knee joint of a stillborn female with type II achondrogenesis was carried out. The absence of type II collagen, a decrease in the amount of proteoglycans (PG), and structural changes in PG, namely, increased electrophoretic mobility of PG, lower relative content of chondroitin 4-sulfate (Ch4-S), lower molecular weight and decreased total chondroitin sulfate (ChS) sulfation, were detected. Increased amounts of type I and type III collagens, atypical for hyaline cartilage, were revealed. Among the link proteins (LPs), a large protein with a mol. wt. of 48 kDa was predominant. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of achondrogenesis ("chondrogenesis imperfecta") are discussed. The data obtained suggest that the primary defect in type II achondrogenesis involves ChS or type II collagen synthesis.

[Molecular heterogeneity of proteoglycan aggregates of human hyalin cartilage in normal conditions and in systemic bone dysplasia]. / Molekuliarnaia geterogennost' komponentov proteoglikanovykh agregatov gialinovogo khriashcha cheloveka v norme i pri sistemnykh kostnykh displaziiakh.

Components of proteoglycan aggregates of human hyalin cartilage were studied under conditions of normal state and in some forms of osteochondrodysplasia. Extraction of uronic acids and protein from the tissue, amount of fractions and electrophoretic mobility of proteoglycan monomers, rations protein/glycosaminoglycans, keratan sulfate/chondroitin sulfate, a level and type of sulfatation as well as molecular mass of chondroitin sulfate, amino acid composition of rod protein, heterogeneity of binding proteins (concerning their isoelectric points and molecular masses) and immunoreactivity of protein moiety in proteoglycan aggregates were studied in rib cartilage, knee joint and ala ossis ilii. Structural parameters of proteoglycan aggregates proved to be dissimilar and depended on cartilage localization and age of the donors. Impairments in the rate of chondroitin sulfate sulfatation were detected in achondrogenesis of the II type and in diastrophic dysplasia; an extraction ability and amount of proteoglycan fractions, relative content of glycosaminoglycans and binding proteins were altered in some other forms of osteochondrodysplasias. Numerous biochemical markers of extracellular matrix deterioration were detected, which are typical for various morphofunctional alterations in hyalin cartilage--hyperproliferative reactions, tissue prematuration, persistence of the embryonal type of metabolism.