Effect of different hydrostatic pressures on mouse metatarsal and hip cartilage tissues

Chondrocytes are subject to continuous loads placed upon them throughout development and physical activity. Normal physiological loads enable the maintenance of the articular cartilage health, however abnormal loads contribute to pathological joint ageing. Similarly, the growth plate cartilage is exposed to a number of loads during growth and development. Due to the high-water content of cartilage, hydrostatic pressure is considered one of the main biomechanical influences on chondrocytes and it plays an important role in the mechanoregulation of cartilage. Therefore in this study we conducted RNA-seq analysis of ex vivo hip cap (articular) and metatarsal (growth) cartilage cultures after physiological and injurious hydrostatic pressure. Gene expression in response to 5mPa (physiological) or 50mPa (injurious) hydrostatic pressure was quantified by transcriptome analysis using the Illumina platform Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for hip and metatarsal cartilage tissues exposed to 5mPa (physiological) or 50mPa (injurious) or 0mPa (control) hydrostatic pressure.