{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T03:41:09Z","timestamp":1792813269026,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,28]],"date-time":"2017-12-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1514419200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010949","name":"College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010949","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of Anatomy"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Chondrocytes are the major cell type present in hyaline cartilage and they play a crucial role in maintaining the mechanical resilience of the tissue through a balance of the synthesis and breakdown of extracellular matrix macromolecules. Histological assessment of cartilage suggests that articular chondrocytes <jats:italic>in\u00a0situ<\/jats:italic> typically occur singly and demonstrate a rounded\/elliptical morphology. However, there are suggestions that their grouping and fine shape is more complex and that these change with cartilage degeneration as occurs in osteoarthritis. In the present study we have used confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescently labelled <jats:italic>in\u00a0situ<\/jats:italic> human chondrocytes and advanced imaging software to visualise chondrocyte clustering and detailed morphology within grade\u20100 (non\u2010degenerate) and grade\u20101 (mildly degenerate) cartilage from human femoral heads. Graded human cartilage explants were incubated with 5\u2010chloromethylfluorescein diacetate and propidium iodide to identify the morphology and viability, respectively, of <jats:italic>in\u00a0situ<\/jats:italic> chondrocytes within superficial, mid\u2010 and deep zones. In grade\u20100 cartilage, the analysis of confocal microscope images showed that although the majority of chondrocytes were single and morphologically normal, clusters (i.e. three or more chondrocytes within the enclosed lacunar space) were occasionally observed in the superficial zone, and 15\u201325% of the cell population exhibited at least one cytoplasmic process of ~ 5\u00a0\u03bcm in length. With degeneration, cluster number increased (~ 50%) but not significantly; however, the number of cells\/cluster (<jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a00.001) and the percentage of cells forming clusters increased (<jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>=\u00a00.0013). In the superficial zone but not the mid\u2010 or deep zones, the volume of clusters and average volume of chondrocytes in clusters increased (<jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a00.001 and <jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a00.05, respectively). The percentage of chondrocytes with processes, the number of processes\/cell and the length of processes\/cell increased in the superficial zone of grade\u20101 cartilage (<jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>=\u00a00.0098, <jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>=\u00a00.02 and <jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a00.001, respectively). Processes were categorised based on length (L0 \u2013 no cytoplasmic processes; L1<jats:italic>\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a05\u00a0\u03bcm; 5<jats:italic>\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a0L2\u00a0\u2264\u00a010\u00a0\u03bcm; 10<jats:italic>\u00a0<\/jats:italic>&lt;\u00a0L3\u00a0\u2264\u00a015\u00a0\u03bcm; L4\u00a0&gt;\u00a015\u00a0\u03bcm). With cartilage degeneration, for chondrocytes in all zones, there was a significant decrease (<jats:italic>P\u00a0<\/jats:italic>=\u00a00.015) in the percentage of chondrocytes with \u2018normal\u2019 morphology (i.e. L0), with no change in the percentage of cells with L1 processes; however, there were significant increases in the other categories. In grade\u20100 cartilage, chondrocyte clustering and morphological abnormalities occurred and with degeneration these were exacerbated, particularly in the superficial zone. Chondrocyte clustering and abnormal morphology are associated with aberrant matrix metabolism, suggesting that these early changes to chondrocyte properties may be associated with cartilage degeneration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/joa.12768","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,12,28]],"date-time":"2017-12-28T10:30:57Z","timestamp":1514457057000},"page":"686-698","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["The clustering and morphology of chondrocytes in normal and mildly degenerate human femoral head cartilage studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"232","author":[{"given":"Asima","family":"Karim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Integrative Physiology Deanery of Biomedical Sciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anish 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