Identification of collagen type I and type II in chondroid tissue

Summary This paper deals with investigations concerning the matrix of chondroid tissue. Among the 73 human fetus or child mandibles and the 42 cat mandibles we have studied histologically and microradiographically, 8 human and 3 cat mandibles were used to determine the collagen composition in chondroid tissue matrix, and 10 cat mandibles were analyzed in order to have an ultrastructural approach to chondroid tissue. Both in human and cat mandibles, types I and II collagen were identified by indirect immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques. Electron microscopic analysis shows large collagen fibrils which correspond to type I collagen, and smaller collagen fibrils, principally located at the periphery of the chondroid cells. From our investigations, chondroid tissue should be considered as being different from both bone and cartilage, although it is not a transitional tissue, since no transformation of chondroid tissue into bone is observed; it should be classified as an intermediate tissue between cartilage and bone because of its morphological characteristics.