title: Up-regulation of CD44 in rheumatoid chondrocytes.
abstract: The adhesion molecule CD44 is thought to play an important role in the inflammatory process. To identify the expression of CD44 in articular chondrocytes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), monoclonal anti-CD44 antibodies were immunohistochemically used to react with articular cartilage specimens of 15 patients with RA, 9 with osteoarthritis (OA), and 6 with femoral neck fracture (FF). The proportion of CD44-positive chondrocytes in RA was 93 +/- 2% (N=16), which was significantly higher than that in OA (59 +/- 7%, N=9, p<0.001) and FF (46 +/- 5%, N=6, p<0.001). Among CD44 isoforms examined, the hemopoietic form was dominant in chondrocytes in RA. Therefore, up-regulation of CD44 on chondrocytes may play a significant role in cartilage degeneration in RA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kurosaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koshino
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005265:Femoral Neck Fractures / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D007596:Joints / Q000378:metabolism; D016169:Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors; D016169:Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1