LOCALIZATION OF TYPE-I, TYPE-II AND TYPE-III COLLAGEN AND GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS IN THE MANDIBULAR CONDYLE OF GROWING MONKEYS - AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY

In order to analyse the regional and age-related variations of primate condyles, immunohistochemical techniques were used to examine the loc alization of types I, II and III collagen and a variety of glycosamino glycans in distinct anteroposterior regions of the mandibular condyle of two growing female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). In the juvenile monkey staining for types I and III collagen was weak in the fibrous tissue layer, intense in the pre-cartilaginous tissue layer and faint in the cartilaginous tissue layer; staining was significantly more int ense in the posterosuperior and posterior regions than in the anterior region. Similarly, staining for cartilage-characteristic extracellula r matrices, including type II collagen and keratan sulfate, was intens e in the cartilaginous tissue layer of the posterior condyle. In contr ast, in the late-adolescent monkey staining for the extracellular matr ices was more intense in the anterior half of the condyle (i.e. from t he anterior to the posterosuperior region) than in the posterior regio n, and most intense in the posterosuperior region. The results demonst rate that marked regional differences exist in the phenotypic expressi on of the extracellular matrices in the mandibular condyles of growing monkeys and that these differences vary between different development al stages. The variations probably reflect the predominance of competi ng growth and articulatory functions in the mandibular condyles.