The role of 3D-microscopy in the study of chondrocyte-matrix interaction (alginate bead or sponge, rat femoral head cap, human osteoarthritic cartilage) and pharmacological application.

The potentialities of a new non-invasive optical scanning microscopy technique were evaluated through 3D analysis of chondrocyte-matrix interactions. Five different 2D or 3D culture systems were used: (1) MonoLayer (ML) of human chondrosarcoma cell line; (2) rat or human chondrocytes encapsulated in Alginate Bead (AB); (3) human chondrocytes encapsulated in Alginate Sponge (AS); (4) Rat Femoral Head Cap (RFHC); (5) slices of knee human Osteoarthritic Cartilage (HOAC). Chondrocytes ML, AB, RFHC were incubated for 24 h in vitro in the presence of recombinant human interleukin1-beta (rhIL1-beta) and the effects on cytoskeleton organisation (F-actin filament), Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) expression (tyrosine kinase), collagenase B expression (metalloprotease) were studied. Furthermore, the production of intracellular IL1-beta by LPS- or rhIL1-beta-stimulated chondrocytes was shown to be partly suppressed by rhein (active metabolite of diacerhein) in all culture systems. This high resolution light microscopy gave complementary information that could be important for a better understanding of the interaction of chondrocytes with the extracellular matrix in a variety of culture devices.