CARTILAGE AND CHONDROITIN SULPHATE

II. Chondroitin Sulphate and the Physiological Ossification of Cartilage

¹ Department of Radiopathology, Radiumhemmet, Stockholm

By means of the metachromatic staining technique, the distribution and approximate amount of chondroitin sulphate in embryonic cartilage were studied during the ossification process. Previous statements by Logan have been corroborated, and additional data are presented. Thus the ossification of cartilage is evidently preceded by a loss of chondroitin sulphate, which begins in the "hypertrophic" vesicular layer of cartilage. In places where osteoblast activity is actually exerted, all chondroitin sulphate has usually disappeared. The disintegration of the ester sulphate is probably effected by a shift in hydrogen-ion concentration, by enzyme action, or both. From a morphological point of view, the ingrowing blood vessels and fibroblasts of the primitive bone marrow carry the active mechanisms which are transferred to the intercellular medium. The destruction and removal of the chondroitin sulphate seems to be a necessary link in the chain of events producing an alkaline medium, which is a prerequisite for the action of alkaline phosphatase.

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