The fine structure of proliferating cartilage cells: structural changes in an experimental model.

Extensive development of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and comparatively less developed Golgi membranes were seen in the cells of chondrocyte clusters which had formed in the vicinity of cartilage defects produced by intra-articular papain and cortisone injections. These cells frequently showed myelin-like membranous figures. These figures were seen either close to the cell membrane, or between cells, or connected to the nuclear envelope or the endoplasmic reticulum. The hypothesis is advanced that the myelin figures are made from redundant material which was not used for membrane formation. Cortisone, which is known to interfere with mitochondrial function and general metabolic processes, could have been responsible for the deficiency in membrane differentiation and transfer. This investigation was supported by grants from the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation and from the Research Evaluation and Allocation Committee of the School of Medicine, Univeristy of California, San Francisco.