Isogenous group

Micrograph of hyaline cartilage containing isogenous groups.

An isogenous group (lat. "equal origin") is a cluster of up to eight chondrocytes ^[1] found in hyaline and elastic cartilage. ^[2]

Formation

Chondrocytes develop in the embryo from mesenchymal progenitor cells through a process known as chondrogenesis. ^{[2] [3]} A chondrocyte can then undergo mitosis to form an isogenous group within its lacuna. ^{[3] [4]}

Function

Isogenous groups differentiate into individual chondrocytes where they continue to produce and deposit extracellular matrix (ECM), lengthening the cartilage and increasing its diameter. ^{[3] [5]} This is termed interstitial growth and is one of only two ways cartilage can grow. ^[4]

Cartoon representation of hyaline cartilage with isogenous groups.

See also

• Endochondral ossification
• Hyaline

References

1. Nahian, Ahmed; Sapra, Amit (2021), "Histology, Chondrocytes", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID   32491508 , retrieved 2021-11-28
2. Wheater's Functional Histology, 6th ed. Young, O'Dowd and Woodford.
3. Leboffe, Michael J. (2013). "Chapter 5: Cartilage and Bone". A Photographic Atlas of Histology Second Edition. Morton Publishing. pp. 51–55. ISBN   978-161731-068-3.
4. Hall, Brian K. (2005), "Chapter 3: Cartilage", Bones and Cartilage: Developmental and Evolutionary Skeletal Biology, Elsevier, p. 35, ISBN   9780080454153 , retrieved 2021-11-28
5. Asanbaeva, Anna; Masuda, Koichi; Thonar, Eugene J.-M. A.; Klisch, Stephen M.; Sah, Robert L. (2007). "Mechanisms of cartilage growth: Modulation of balance between proteoglycan and collagen in vitro using chondroitinase ABC" . Arthritis & Rheumatism. 56 (1): 188–198. doi:10.1002/art.22298. ISSN   1529-0131. PMID   17195221.