CARTILAGE AND BONE

In an adult human skeleton—206 bones and numerous cartilage

Cartilage and bone tissue are special types of connective tissue, specifically dense regular
connective tissue. It has few cells and abundant intracellular substance. Their main difference lies
in their connective tissue.
• Cartilage & Bone tissues – dense regular connective tissue
• Cartilage – gelatinous intercellular substance
• Bone – calcified, rigid and hard intercellular substance
Cartilage / Gristle
• Forms the bulk of the skeleton of the fetus in utero
• Serve as a supporting framework for the body of the fetus
• Has the capacity to grow rapidly at conditions of relatively low oxygen tension
• Exists in and around joints, the sternal ends of ribs, some part of the respiratory system and
external ear, and in tendons and ligaments
Cartilage tissue:
Composition and Microscopic Structure
A. Chrondocyte / Cartilage cell
• In vivo, it fills the lacunae (cavities) where it resides
• Vary in shape and size:
- Young chondrocyte – elliptical with long axes
- Mature chondrocyte – larger and round
• Cytoplasm
– granular and basophilic
– contains mitochondria, rER and Golgi complex
– contains inclusions: fat droplets and glycogen granules
– possess cytoplasmic processes
• Nucleus – ovoid
• Nourished by diffusion of nutrients
• Isogenous cells
– daughter cells of the young chondrocyte
– separated from each other by thin layer of intercellular substance
B. Cartilage Matrix
• consists of an amorphous ground substance where extracellular fibers are embedded
• Ground substance
- Apart from water (70-80% wet weight of the tissue)
-Mostly made up of proteoglycans
-Contains chondronectin ,a fibronectin-like substance that promotes the adherence of
collagen fibers to the cell surface of the chondrocyte
• Extracellular fibers
-consist of collagen and elastic
Types of Cartilage

A. Hyaline Cartilage
• Glistening ,smooth, and pearly white
 • Most abundant type of cartilage
• Serves as a temporary skeleton for the fetus
• Comprises the epiphyseal plate
• In adults, persists only in joints as articular cartilage
• Extracellular fiber: Type II collagen fibers (40% of the dry weight of the tissue)
B. Elastic Cartilage
• More flexible (than hyaline cartilage) and yellowish in fresh specimen because of
the elastic fibers
• Less abundant matrix
• Extracellular fiber: Type II collagen fiber
• Present in
A. Auricle
B. External acoustic meatus
C. Auditory tube
D. Epiglottis
E. Other parts of the larynx
C. Fibrous Cartilage
• Can withstand greater stress
• White in fresh specimen
• Extracellular fiber: Type I collagen fibers (thicker than type II)
• Makes up the intervebral discs, articular discs, glenoid ,acetabular labra
• Found in the surface layers of tendons and ligaments
• Can be regarded as a transitional stage between dense regular connective tissue and
cartilage

Perichondrium
- enveloped by dense irregular connective tissue
- has chondrogenic potency
(ability to form cartilage)
- consists of
Fibrous layer – outer layer that blends with the surrounding tissue
Chondrogenic layer – an inner more cellular layer that adheres to the cartilage
Cells of Cartilage
Osteoprogenitor cells
• Are stem cells found at the chondrogenic layer that are apposed to the surface of the
cartilage
• Can transform into either chondroblasts or osteoblast
Chondroblast
• Are cells that synthesize the precursors of the extracellular fibers and the other
organic constituents of cartilage matrix
Chondrocytes
• Are cells that are formed from the chondroblasts which are surrounded by the
matrix they secreted and acquired in the lacunae
Bone
• Comprise the bulk of the adult skeleton
• Forms a rigid framework for the body
• Protects vital organs
• Serves as levers for muscles
• Storehouses for calcium and phosphorus
• Contain bone marrow where most of the formed elements of blood are produced
Types of Bones According to Shape
1) Long bone
– confined to the extremities
– is tubular and consists of:
Body or shaft – has a hollow core (medullary cavity)
Proximal & distal epiphyses – two ends that are covered on their articulating
surfaces by hyaline cartilage (articular cartilage)
2) Short bones
– cuboidal and are confined to the wrist and ankle
3) Flat bones
– are typified by the sternum, scapulae and many bones of the skull
4) Irregular bones
– include the vertebrae, hip bones and bones of the skull that are not flat
5) Sesamoid bones
– are in the shape of small nodules
– develop in tendons that rub bony surfaces
Forms of Bone Tissue
1) Spongy bone (cancellous)
- inner region where the bone tissue has numerous
spaces that are visible to the naked eye
- may be minimal in amount or even entirely absent
- in terms of volume, there is more spongy bone than
compact bone in the body
- accounts for 20 – 25% of the body ‘s total skeletal mass
2) Compact bone (cortical; dense)
- outer casing of bone tissue that
appears as a solid mass
-accounts for 75 – 80% of the
body ‘stotal skeletal mass
 Both forms are present in all bones except in:
• Bones where the central area is occupied by air sinuses
• Medullary cavity e.g. long bones

Periosteum and Endosteum

 • All surfaces of bones, except articulating surfaces and surfaces where muscles, tendons, and
ligaments are either lined or covered by dense irregular connective tissue that is special
because it has osteogenic potency (ability to form bone).
• Periosteum – covers the external surfaces of bone
• Endosteum – lines the internal surfaces and cavities in bone
 Periosteum - consist of
fibrous layer – outer layer
osteogenic layer – inner more cellular layer
• Osteoprogenitor cells
– stem cells found at the osteogenic layer that are apposed to the surface of the bone
• Sharpey’s fiber
– trapped collagen fibers
– serve to anchor the periosteum to the bone more firmly
 Endosteum
- lines all the medullary, marrow and vascular cavities of bones
- thinner than periosteum
- often consists simply of a single layer of osteoprogenitor cells
Composition, Microscopic Structure and Architecture of Bone Tissue
• Bone matrix- very hard intercellular substance
• Lamellae- concentric rings of hard, calcified extracellular matrix
• Lacunae- cavities dispersed uniformly in lamellae (small hollow space)
• Canaliculi- small canals of lacunae filled with extracellular fluid
• Osteocyte- cell occupying as lacuna; maintain bone’s daily metabolism
Architecture of Spongy Bone
• Trabeculae (spicule)- small interconnecting bone fragments that form the framework of
bone marrow cavities
• Osteocyte- derive nutrients directly or indirectly from blood vessels in the bone marrow
Architecture of Compact Bone
1. Haversian Systems (osteons)- units of bone
tissue aligned with stress
• Haversian canal (canal of Havers)- tiny endosteum-lined longitudinal vascular
channel; contains blood vessels and nerves
• Cement line- thin layer of demineralized matrix; delineates the boundaries of
Haverian system
• Volkmann’s canal- transverse channels that convey vessels and nerves from the
periosteum to the Haversian systems
2. Interstitial Lamellae- fill spaces between
Haversian systems
• fragments of older osteons destroyed partially during growth
3. Circumferential Lamellae- most developed
in long bones
• Outer Circumferential Lamellae- encircle the bone beneath the periosteum
• Inner Circumferential Lamellae- encircle the medullary cavity
Bone Matrix
1. Ground Substance
• Water- main component
• Inorganic- 2/3 of dry weight of the bone
• Organic- 1/3 of dry weight
2. Extracellular Fibers
• Type I collagen fibers- 90% of organic content of bone matrix; makes bone
acidophilic
Cells of the Bone
1. Osteoprogenitor (osteogenic cell)
 Differentiate from embryonic mesenchymal cells
 Can multiply infinitely but can differentiate only into osteoblasts or chondroblasts
 Fusiform cells
2. Osteoblast
 Differentiate from osteoprogenitor cell
 Synthesizes precursors of collagen fibers & organic constituents of bone matrix
 Relatively large cell (round, polygonal or cuboidal in shape)
 Numerous cytoplasmic processes
 Well-developed Golgi complex
 Single nucleus
 Aid in bone resorption
3. Osteocyte
 Cells that occupy lacunae in the bone tissue
 Osteoid tissue- uncalcified bone matrix; separates osteocyte within a lacuna from
calcified matrix
 In H & E prep, flat cells with numerous cytoplasmic processes
 Gap type- side-to-side junctions
 Do not divide
4. Osteoclast
 Large (up to 150 µm in diameter)
 Multinucleated cells
 Howship’s lacunae- concavities that represent areas of resorbed bone
 Striated border (ruffled border)- villus-like processes of plasmalemma that
branch & anastomose with one another
 Bone resorption- breakdown of bone
 Colony-Forming-Unit-Granulocyte Macrophage (CFU-GM)