Biomarkers for hypertrophic chondrocyte differentiation are associated with spatial cellular organisation and suggest endochondral ossification-like processes in osteoarthritic cartilage: An exploratory study

In situ identification of the different spatial chondrocyte patterns by fluorescence microscopy has already been established in the recent past. Analysing human in-situ cartilage explants rather than isolated OA chondrocytes closes the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies and as such, stretches a big step towards translation of the observed findings. The direct association between tissue biomarker profile and cellular arrangements representing different states of OA sheds new light on the molecular and cellular physiopathology, especially in the context of larger processes such as angiogenesis, cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. This also opens an interesting perspective for future investigation of such biomarkers and processes in clinical studies.