Bone and Cartilage Biology
A medical student asks why articular cartilage has limited healing capacity compared to bone. You explain that chondrocytes exist in a unique avascular, hypoxic environment and rely on anaerobic metabolism for energy production. Understanding chondrocyte metabolism is fundamental to comprehending cartilage biology, disease mechanisms in osteoarthritis, and rationale for cartilage repair techniques. Regarding chondrocyte metabolism and cartilage homeostasis:
Mark each as TRUE or FALSE
Chondrocytes derive approximately 95% of their ATP from anaerobic glycolysis rather than oxidative p...
Type II collagen, the predominant structural protein in articular cartilage, has an extremely slow t...
Chondrocytes sense mechanical loading through mechanotransduction pathways involving primary cilia, ...
Chondrocytes maintain cartilage homeostasis by balancing matrix synthesis (anabolism) and degradatio...
Chondrocytes are terminally differentiated cells incapable of proliferation or phenotypic modulation...
Answer the questions to see explanations
Click T (True) or F (False) for each option