Age-related decrease in the responsiveness of rat articular chondrocytes to EGF is associated with diminished number and affinity for the ligand of cell surface binding sites.

The effect of age on the responsiveness of articular chondrocytes (AC) to epidermal growth factor (EGF) was examined. Cells were isolated by digesting cartilage fragments from the humeral and femoral heads of 21-day old, 8- and 14-month old rats with collagenase. The cells were cultured under standard conditions, as monolayers.