S. Chubinskaya et al., ADAM-10 MESSAGE IS EXPRESSED IN HUMAN ARTICULAR-CARTILAGE, The Journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry, 46(6), 1998, pp. 723-729
The depletion of the pericellular and territorial matrices in articula
r cartilage is considered to be one of the earliest events in pathobio
logy of osteoarthritis (OA). A newly discovered family of proteins wit
h a disintegrin-like and metalloproteinase-like domain (ADAM) may be i
nvolved in matrix degradation as well as in cell-cell and cell-matrix
interactions. The purpose of this study was to determine by in situ hy
bridization whether human articular chondrocytes from newborn, normal
adult, and OA cartilages express messenger RNA for ADAM-10, one of the
members of this family, and by semiquantitative RT-PCR to compare the
levels of this expression. The results confirmed the expression of AD
AM-IO by human articular chondrocytes and revealed the highest levels
of expression in the continuously remodeling cartilage of newborns and
the most fibrillated areas of OA cartilage, especially the regions of
cell clusters. Importantly, ADAM-10 mRNA expression was evident in ti
ssues with the greatest loss of Safranin O staining from the territori
al and interterritorial matrix of the chondrocytes. Messenger RNA was
upregulated in OA tissue compared to the age-matched normal cartilage,
as detected by RT-PCR. Upregulated levels of ADAM-10 mRNA expression
appear to be related to the degree of cartilage damage and/ or degrada
tion, which suggests a potential role for at least one member of this
new family in the cartilage matrix destruction accompanying OA.