Effects of calcitonin and parathyroid hormone on the metabolism of chondrocytes in culture.

Rabbit articular chondrocytes in suspension culture synthesize Type II collagen [3alpha1(II)] in the absence of extracellular Ca2+ and Type I collagen [2alpha1(I) - alpha2] in the complete medium. As a result of pre-treatment in monolayer culture with calcitonin or parathyroid hormone in the complete medium, an influx of Ca2+ into the cells occurs. These cells produce mainly Type I collagen when transferred to suspension cultures in the medium devoid of CaCl2. If added directly to the suspension culture medium containing no CaCl2, calcitonin stimulates an active efflux of Ca2+ from the cells into the medium and leads the cells to synthesize Type I collagen. Under similar conditions, parathyroid hormone does not change the collagen-phenotype.