Growth and Development
In embryogenesis, the skeletal system is derived from the mesoderm germ layer. Chondrification (also known as chondrogenesis) is the process by which cartilage is formed from condensed mesenchyme tissue, which differentiates into chondroblasts and begins secreting the molecules that form the extracellular matrix.
Following the initial chondrification that occurs during embryogenesis, cartilage growth consists mostly of the maturing of immature cartilage to a more mature state. The division of cells within cartilage occurs very slowly, and thus growth in cartilage is usually not based on an increase in size or mass of the cartilage itself. Articular cartilage function is dependent on the molecular composition of its extracellular matrix (ECM), which consists mainly of proteoglycans and collagens. Remodeling of cartilage is predominantly affected by changes and rearrangements of the collagen matrix, which responds to tensile and compressive forces experienced by the cartilage. Cartilage growth thus refers in most circles to matrix deposition, but can include both growth and remodeling of the extracellular matrix.
Read more about this topic: Cartilage
Famous quotes containing the words growth and/or development:
“Perhaps our national ambition to standardize ourselves has behind it the notion that democracy means standardization. But standardization is the surest way to destroy the initiative, to benumb the creative impulse above all else essential to the vitality and growth of democratic ideals.”
—Ida M. Tarbell (1857–1944)
“I have an intense personal interest in making the use of American capital in the development of China an instrument for the promotion of the welfare of China, and an increase in her material prosperity without entanglements or creating embarrassment affecting the growth of her independent political power, and the preservation of her territorial integrity.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)