Rami K Korhonen∗,†, Sang-Kuy Han‡, Walter Herzog‡
Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 125-134, 2010, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2010.007.125
Abstract Changes in the osmotic environment cause changes in volume of isolated cells and cells in tissue explants, and the osmotic environment becomes hypotonic in cartilage diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA). However, it is not known how cells respond to a hypotonic osmotic challenge when situated in the fully intact articular cartilage.
A confocal laser scanning microscope was used to image chondrocytes of intact rabbit patellae in an isotonic (300 mOsm) and hypotonic (172 mOsm) immersion medium. Cell volumes were calculated before and 5, 15, 60, 120 and 240 minutes after the change in saline concentration. Local… More >