Conference: In Vitro Approaches to understanding Growth and Development The use of AvÃ-anEpiphyseal Chondrocytes for In Vitro Studies of Skeletal Metabolism1

ABSTRACT Chondrocytes from the postembryonic avian epiphyseal growth plate are easily obtained and can be successfully cultured for a considerable length of time. (Inder the proper culture conditions, the chon-drocytes will become confluent and achieve a hyper-trophic morphology followed by mineralization of the extracellular matrix. Although this can be accomplished with a serum-free medium, the process is accelerated in the presence of serum. Minimal growth factor re quirements for the serum-free medium include flbroblast growth factor and insulin-like growth factor. Trans forming growth factor-beta and parathyroid hormone are also mitogenic for Chondrocytes. Chondrocytes may have more critical requirements for amino acids be cause further supplementation of a conventional medium such as Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium re sults in improved performance of the cultured cells. Ascorbic acid in the medium is very important for ma trix vesicle production and mineralization of cartilage nodules. J. Nutr. 122: 802-805, 1992. INDEXING KEY WORDS: •Chondrocytes •cell culture •serum-free medium •au/an In vitro systems have received increased attention as a method of investigating the metabolism of cellular constituents of various tissues. For example, research ers interested in the skeletal system have utilized ar ticular cartilage Chondrocytes, epiphyseal growth plate chondrocytes, osteoblasts and osteoclasts as sources of cells for cell culture. This manuscript will focus on the use of postembryonic avian epiphyseal growth plate chondrocytes in cell culture systems. This tissue plays a key role in longitudinal bone growth and hence such investigations will lead to a better understanding of the factors controlling the metabolism of this tissue. When compared with mammalian tissues, the avian growth plate is thicker (wider) and easily dissected, leading to greater yields of cells during the isolation procedure