AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Tribology Focus Topic Wednesday Sessions
       Session TR+NS+SS-WeA

Paper TR+NS+SS-WeA7
Lubricin Reduces Microscale Cartilage Wear

Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 4:00 pm, Room Tesuque

Session: Mechanical & Chemical Effects on Friction and Wear
Presenter: J.M. Coles, Duke University
Authors: J.M. Coles, Duke University
D.P. Chang, Duke University
L. Zhang, Brown University / Rhode Island Hospital
G.D. Jay, Brown University / Rhode Island Hospital
F. Guilak, Duke University
S. Zauscher, Duke University
Correspondent: Click to Email
Articular cartilage is the load bearing surface of mammalian joints. Relatively little wear occurs in cartilage and the tissue is able to sustain millions of loading cycles despite limited regenerative capacity. Though many studies of cartilage friction and lubrication have been performed, often with a stated goal of understanding cartilage wear prevention, very few have measured wear directly and none have directly assessed the effects of synovial fluid constituents in mediating wear. Here we show that the synovial fluid glycoprotein lubricin reduces microscale cartilage wear in vitro. We used colloidal probe microscopy to induce wear and use the change in the average height of the surface as a measure of worn volume. The height change in locations worn in the presence of lubricin was significantly less than in those worn in the control solution. These data indicate that lubricin is important for cartilage preservation physiologically and may have implications for treating or preventing joint disease.