title: Oxygen and the connective tissues.
abstract: Avascular connective tissues (cartilage, discs, cornea) change with maturation and aging, particularly in large animals, where diffusion paths are longest. It is suggested that the changes in such tissues are responses to increasing difficulties in obtaining oxygen. Two almost identical structural polymers are made in these tissues: chondroitin sulphate, which requires large amounts of oxygen for biosynthesis and keratan sulphate, which requires relatively little. The observed balance of these polymers in the tissue is proposed to depend on the control of biosynthesis by the ambient oxygen tension, and/or selective breakdown.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Morphology, Manchester University, UK.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D002356:Cartilage / Q000378:metabolism; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000378:metabolism; D007632:Keratan Sulfate / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates; D007632:Keratan Sulfate