THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CARTILAGE GROWTH

关节软骨的功能是承载和分配滑膜关节的大压缩载荷，并通过减少摩擦力和减少磨损在润滑中起重要作用。软骨在长骨生长中起着至关重要的作用，存在许多因素干扰未成熟骨骼的正常生长，包括先天性疾病和创伤性损伤。定量生长模型描述软骨发育的形式化或应用实际上是缺乏的。本提案的具体目标是发展一种与软骨相关的生长理论，并利用从生长中的小鼠收集的实验数据应用该理论，试图模拟小鼠股骨头软骨生长的运动学。生长弹性理论将被推广到任意数量的成分，并将包括适当的重塑方程。将在生长小鼠的样本中进行立体测量，以获得描述关节软骨生长运动学的理论模型参数。本研究的长期目标是建立全关节生长模型，研究和设计预防和治疗软骨异常的方法。

Articular cartilage functions to carry and distribute large compressive loads in synovial joints and serves an important role in lubrication by minimizing frictional forces and decreasing wear. Cartilage serves a crucial role in the growth of long bones and there exist numerous factors that disrupt normal growth in immature bones including congenital diseases and traumatic injuries. There is a virtual absence of the formalization or application of quantitative growth models to describe developing cartilage. The specific goals of this proposal are to develop a growth theory relevant to cartilage and to apply the theory using experimental data gathered from growing mice in an attempt to model the kinematics of cartilage growth in the mouse femoral head. A growth elasticity theory will be generalized to an arbitrary number of constituents and will include appropriate remodeling equations. Stereological measurements will be made in samples from growing mice to obtain theoretical model parameters to describe the growth kinematics in articular cartilage. A long-term goal of the proposed research is to formulate models of whole joint growth to study and design methods for the prevention and treatment of cartilage abnormalities.