Growth of cartilage. Isogenous groups.
The observation of sections of a mature hyaline cartilage shows that most of its chondrocytes are not isolated. Very often they are seen as agregates of chondrocytes called isogenous groups. Each of these agregates is separated from its neighbours by ECM.
The organization of chondrocytes forming isogenous groups results from the manner of growth of that cartilage piece. In the type of growth called interstitial growth chondrocytes divide by mitosis. Due to the semi-rigid consistency of the matrix, the cells resulting from these divisions tend to remain close to each other. A few cycles of division of one chondrocyte results in the production of an aggregate called isogenous group.
Another type of cartilage growth is called appositional growth. This kind of growth occurs by the addition of new chondrocytes at the external surface of cartilage pieces. These new chondrocytes originate from cells of the perichondrium.
By hovering the cursor or clicking on the image, several isogenous groups are highlighted. The isogenous groups are surrounded by extracellular matrix.
