Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor is not a potent regulator of anabolic and catabolic gene expression in adult human articular chondrocytes.

Objective. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been reported to be present in articular cartilage and to be a potentially important inducing factor of anabolic and catabolic activity in chondrocytes. The aim of this study was to determine the expression levels of full length-functional-hgf and its receptor c-met in normal and osteoarthritic cartilage and the effect of HGF on anabolic and catabolic gene expression in adult human articular chondrocytes.

ADAMTS-1, a gene product of articular chondrocytes in vivo and in vitro, is downregulated by interleukin 1beta.

Objective: Osteoarthritic (OA) cartilage degeneration and cartilage destruction in rheumatoid arthritis depends significantly on enzymatic degradation of cartilage proteoglycan aggrecan. A member of the ADAMTS family of proteases, ADAMTS-1 was described to have "aggrecanase" activity. We investigated the quantitative expression and distribution of ADAMTS-1 in healthy and OA cartilage and in cultured articular chondrocytes with and without stimulation by interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I).