Comparison of the degradation of type II collagen and proteoglycan in nasal and articular cartilages induced by interleukin-1 and the selective inhibition of type II collagen cleavage by collagenase

Abstract

IL-1alpha-induced cleavage and denaturation of type II collagen is observed in both hyaline cartilages and is secondary to proteoglycan loss. It probably involves different collagenases, since there is no evidence of a rate-limiting role for collagenase 1 in articular cartilage, unlike the case for nasal cartilage. Inhibitors of this kind may be of value in the treatment of cartilage damage in arthritis. Also, the ability to detect the release of type II collagen collagenase-generated fragments from degraded cartilage offers the potential to monitor cartilage collagen damage and its control in vivo.