Abstract
The primary function of load-bearing cartilages such as articular cartilage and the intervertebral disc is mechanical. These cartilages both support and spread load and act as shock absorbers as well as having other mechanical roles. Articular cartilage, for instance, provides a low-friction, lubricating surface to the joints. The discs, on the other hand, provide the spinal column with flexibility which allows the trunk to bend or twist. The ability to withstand high external loads, and to fulfil these required mechanical roles over many decades, depends ultimately on the properties and organization of the macromolecular constituents of these tissues—in particular, collagen and proteoglycans. Collagen fibrils form a network of great tensile strength which is inflated with water through the hydrophilic nature of the proteoglycans to provide a tissue which is deformable but which can withstand compressive and shear loads (Broom and Marra, 1985). The continuing health of these tissues depends on the activity of the cartilage cells which synthesize, maintain and turn over the collagens and proteoglycans of the matrix.
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Urban, J.P.G. (1990). Solute Transport in Articular Cartilage and the Intervertebral Disc. In: Hukins, D.W.L. (eds) Connective Tissue Matrix. Topics in Molecular and Structural Biology. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09865-1_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09865-1_3
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