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Methods for studying the fast molecular dynamics of the rigid macromolecules in cartilage are described. The strong dipolar couplings and chemical shift anisotropies of these molecules necessitate application of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques such ...

This chapter describes a new methodology for the acquisition and computer elaboration of joint anatomy and motion data and the study of their correlation. The method uses a commercial industrial electrogoniometer, custom tools, and software designed and developed by the authors for in ...

The term osteoarthritis (OA) represents a group of diseases characterized by gradual degradation of articular cartilage and a number of associated degenerative processes within the joint. Consequently, no single animal model is likely to fulfil all the criteria of OA. The present chapt ...

Type II collagen, the most abundant protein of cartilage matrix, is synthesized as a procollagen molecule including the N-(PIINP) and C-(PIICP) propeptides at each end. Type II procollagen is produced in two forms as the result of alternative RNA splicing. One form (IIA) includes and the other form ( ...

The material properties of dense avascular connective tissues such as cartilage present unique challenges to the development of any prospective histological procedures. This chapter documents some of the protocols we have developed in our laboratories for the histological and i ...

Hyaluronan (HA) binding proteins (HABPs) were localized in cartilaginous ovine tissues (articular cartilage, intervertebral disc) using a biotinylated HA (bHA) oligosaccharide bioaffinity probe. The bHA oligosaccharide probe was prepared by partial digestion of HA with ovi ...

This chapter presents the histological assessment of cartilage and bone of tibial plateaus, by procedures that have been applied and validated in two animal models of osteoarthritis: meniscectomized rats and guinea pigs. It starts from bone sampling, followed by all the steps of sample pre ...

Most current approaches to the analysis of gene expression in arthritic tissue samples are based on RNA isolated either from cultured synovial cells or from synovial biopsies. However, this strategy does not distinguish between specific gene expression profiles of cells originating ...

The procedure described below is useful for extracting proteins, nucleic acids, and glycosaminoglycans from 5–40 mg of cartilage or tissue-engineered cartilage samples. This extraction method will generate samples compatible with Western blot, RNase protection, dimethyl me ...

Protein localization in cartilage sections by antibodies that specifically bind to epitopes of a protein is one of the most powerful technologies in modern cartilage research. Studies using two or more primary antibodies that recognize different protein epitopes allow the colocal ...

Cartilage functions as a low-friction, wear-resistant, load-bearing tissue. During a normal gait cycle, one cartilage surface rolls and slides against another, all the while being loaded and unloaded. The durability of the tissue also makes for an impressive material to study. However, wh ...

Genomic DNA in eukaryotic cells is packaged with histone and nonhistone proteins into chromatin structure. Both biochemical and genetic evidences indicate that chromatin structure imposes constraints on nuclear processes including transcription, replication, recomb ...

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) are capable of both activating and repressing transcription from genes bearing TR-binding elements (TREs). In general, TRs function as activators in the presence of thyroid hormone (T3) and repressors in the absence of T3 (1). The ability of TRs to regulate tran ...

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) play a major role in animal physiology. TRs are important and very interesting regulators of diverse aspects, including brain development, hearing, bone growth, morphogenesis, metabolism, intestine, and heart rate in vertebrates (Fig. 1). Aberrant fu ...

In mammals, thyroid hormones (TH) have been shown to control the postnatal development of many organs, such as brain, intestine and long bone, and to participate in the maintenance of homeostasis in adults by controlling basal metabolism, heart rate, and body temperature (1,2). To ensure this last ...

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) and retinoic acid receptors (RARs) are nuclear hormone receptors that play crucial roles in embryogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, and metabolism. TRs and RARs repress basal transcription in the absence of ligand and activate transc ...

Among the most dramatic actions of thyroid hormone are those exerted on brain development and function. In the adult human brain, a deficiency or excess of thyroid hormone may lead to various psychiatric manifestations, but it is during development when thyroid hormone exerts its most varied ...

The v-erbA oncogene is the most clear-cut case of an oncogene that acts by blocking a differentiation sequence (for a review, see ref. 1). It has been discovered as one of the two oncogenes carried by the avian erythroblastosis virus (AEV), a leukemia-inducing retrovirus. It is derived from the c-erbA pr ...

The transfection and overexpression of the cDNA encoding the thyroid hormone receptor (TR) in mammalian cells has shed light into several aspects of the function and biological characteristics of the TR in cells. Using this method, thyroid hormone and TR-responsive genes and response ele ...

Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) syndrome is an inherited human endocrine disease, which is manifested as a failure to respond properly to elevated circulating thyroid hormone (1-4). RTH syndrome behaves as an autosomal dominant trait, and has been mapped at the molecular level to a diverse ...