Atomic force microscope observation of the surfaces of natural articular cartilage

Abstract

Hydrophilic and negatively charged natural cartilage surface is covered by phospholipids bilayers. These phospholipids have been demonstrated to exert highly desirable characteristics on the surface articular cartilage such as efficient lubrication, load processing, and semipermeability for nutrient transport. We examined a bovine cartilage (BC) surface using atomic force microscope. The study was performed using cartilage samples with healthy surfaces and completely depleted surface phospholipids. The artificially degraded cartilage surfaces (lipid depleted) were resurfaced with different species and combinations of synthetic bilayer of phospholipids found in human joints. Our results demonstrated that it is possible to recreate a potentially viable layer of phospholipids on the surface of degenerated cartilage. However, further studies will be required to advance the resurfacing idea developed in this paper for the potential treatment of osteoarthritis and other related orthopedic joint conditions.