Abstract
Surgical biopsies from 27 girls and 18 boys aged between 2 and 8 years were used 10 prepare high density primary cultures of chondrocytcs in serum-free culture medium. The children were considered normal in term of skeletal growth. Cell multiplication and collagen type II biosynthesis and secretion by the cultured cells were studied in (he absence or in the presence of 10−10 M 17β estradiol or testosterone. Chondrocyte multiplication, performed in the presence of 10ng/ml of bFGF, was never modified by the addition of sex steroid hormones. By contrast, when estradiol or testosterone were added to the cells at confluency, a significant increased of type II collagen peptide was recovered in the treated cells as compared with non treated ones. Cycloheximide (10−7M) did not completely inhibit the increased amount of type II collagen peptide recovered in hormone treated cells. At the rnRNA level, as evaluated by northen blot analysis, the steroids induced only a two fold increase of type II collagen transcripts. The stimulating effect of 17β estradiol was always higher than the one of testosterone. A possible effect of testosterone through its metabolic conversion into estrogens was suggested, since the cultured chondrocytes appeared to contain aromatasc activities. No significant increase of chondrocyte collagen content was observed when the steroid hormones were added during the division phase of the culture. Intcrleukinc 1 (IL1) which is known to stimulate the collagcnase secretion by chondrocytes, was added at the concentration of 50ng/ml, to confluent chondrocytcs cultured from two prepubertal girls. A significant decrease of chondrocyte collagen type II was found and was not observed in the presence of 17β estradiol added at 10−9M during three days. These data suggest that sex steroid hormones are acting on the differentiation more than the proliferation of chondrocytes. Sex steroid hormones may maintain cartilage cell phenotype by modulating both the synthesis and ihc degradation of chondrocylc specific proteins.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blanchard, O., Tsagris, L. & Corvol, M. EFFECTS OF 17βESTRADIOL ON HUMAN CARTILAGE CELL PROLIFERATION AND DIFFERENTIATION. Pediatr Res 33 (Suppl 5), S10 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00042
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199305001-00042