# PATHOBIOLOGY OF ARTICULAR CARTILAGE DEGENERATION

> **NIH NIH R01** · MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER (BRONX, NY) · 1992 · $211,122

## Abstract

DESCRIPTION:  (Adapted from investigator's abstract) In mature articular
cartilages, dermatan sulfate proteoglycans (DS-PGs) are located in high
concentration in the superficial tangential zone and pericellular matrix of
chondrocytes.  Recent studies indicate that these are the areas where the
earliest pathologic changes are seen in the articular cartilage
degeneration which occurs during the development of human osteoarthritis.
Degradation and loss of DS-PGs from the superficial tangential zone and
pericellular matrix is almost certainly an important event which goes
hand-in-hand with collagen fibril disruption during the development of
these pathologic changes.

However, appropriate studies have not yet been carried out to show that
this is the case.  One objective of the proposed studies is to determine
whether degradation and loss of DS-PGs in the superficial tangential zone
and pericellular matrix is an early initial event which precedes and leads
to the development of overt fibrillation in articular cartilage
degeneration.

DS-PGs have important biochemical properties that affect the formation
organization, stability and biologic properties of connective tissue
extra-cellular matrices.  Four types of DS-PGs have been isolated from
articular cartilage and skin, which differ in the primary structures of
their core proteins, the numbers of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) chains, and
the IdoA-GalNAc(S04) content and structure of their GAG chains.  These
DS-PGs will be used to examine the relationship between the structure of a
particular DS-PG and its biochemical and biologic properties.  A major
objective of the proposed studies is to determine the effect of structural
differences in the DS-PGs on their biochemical and biological properties,
i.e., their self-association into oligomers, their stoichiometry and
affinity of binding to collagen fibrils, and their effects on collagen
fibril formation and stability.  The studies should provide a better
understanding of the properties of the DS-PGs, and help explain how
degeneration and loss of DS-PGs from the superficial regions of articular
cartilage in the early stages of articular cartilage degeneration
contributes to the development of osteoarthritis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3156886
- **Project number:** 5R01AR034614-08
- **Recipient organization:** MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER (BRONX, NY)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** FP1VD1HU5HV7
- **Principal Investigator:** LAWRENCE ROSENBERG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $211,122
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1984-12-01 → 1994-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3156886

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3156886, PATHOBIOLOGY OF ARTICULAR CARTILAGE DEGENERATION (5R01AR034614-08). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3156886. Licensed CC0.

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