page_title: Artificial cartilage
section_title: Components
hierarchical_section_title: Artificial cartilage / Natural cartilage / Articular cartilage / Components
caption_attribution_description: English: Structure of Cartilage with collagen and chondrocyte arrangement.
context_page_description: Artificial cartilage is a synthetic material made of hydrogels or polymers that aims to mimic the functional properties of natural cartilage in the human body. Tissue engineering principles are used in order to create a non-degradable and biocompatible material that can replace cartilage. While creating a useful synthetic cartilage material, certain challenges need to be overcome. First, cartilage is an avascular structure in the body and therefore does not repair itself. This creates issues in regeneration of the tissue. Synthetic cartilage also needs to be stably attached to its underlying surface, bone. Lastly, in the case of creating synthetic cartilage to be used in joint spaces, high mechanical strength under compression needs to be an intrinsic property of the material.
context_section_description: Water: Water makes up around 80% of cartilage.
  Chondrocytes: Chondrocytes are the cells that produce and maintain the cartilaginous matrix. They are sparsely dispersed throughout cartilage and make up only about 2% of the total volume of cartilage. Chondrocytes vary in size, shape and concentration depending on their location in articular cartilage.
  Collagen: Collagen is a structural protein present in the extracellular matrix of cartilage. Collagen is composed of a triple helix structure of polypeptide chains and offers shear and tensile properties to the cartilage.  Type II collagen is the most common type of collagen present in cartilage though types IX, X, XI, and XIV are also present. Overall, collagen is a stabilizing protein present in the ECM.
  Proteoglycans: Proteoglycans are the second most abundant macromolecule in the ECM of cartilage. Proteoglycans consist of a linker protein along with a core protein to which glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) attach. The most common GAGs are chondroitin sulfate and keratin sulfate. Proteoglycans attach to a central chain, usually hyaluronic acid, via a linker protein, to create larger proteoglycan aggregates. Proteoglycans are hydrophilic and therefore attract and restrain water molecules. This provides cartilage with its intrinsic ability to resist compression.
  Glycoproteins: Many other glycoproteins are present in cartilage ECM in small amounts that help maintain structure and organization. Specifically, lubricin helps to create a lubricating surface on the cartilage for easier joint mobility. Fibronectin and integrins other glycoproteins present that help in adhesion of chondrocytes to the ECM.
caption: Structural zones in Cartilage including chondrocyte and collagen arrangement.
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