title: Proteolytic degradation in human articular cartilage: its relationship to stromelysin.
abstract: Proteolytic degradation of cartilage can in principle occur via the action of proteinases or free radicals, though current evidence favours the enzymic pathway. Link protein can be used as an in situ monitor to identify endogenous proteolytic agents, and its pattern of modification suggests that stromelysin may play a major role in the young, but that additional agents are active in the adult. In cartilage remaining on late-stage osteoarthritic joints, there is less evidence for the action of stromelysin than in normal cartilage, and the tissue appears to be undergoing repair rather than degeneration.
authors.affiliation: Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Roughley
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mort
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caterson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000378:metabolism*; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D019278:Matrix Metalloproteinase 3; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010450:Endopeptidases; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; D019278:Matrix Metalloproteinase 3