PIG SYNOVIUM .1. INTACT SYNOVIUM INVIVO AND IN ORGAN-CULTURE

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  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 122  (DEC) , 663-680
Abstract
The normal synovium of the metacarpophalangeal joints of young pigs was examined by light and EM, and the response of the synoviocytes to different environmental conditions was studied in organ culture. In the normal synovium, cells of the macrophage-like or A-type comprised only a small proportion of the intimal synoviocytes; the majority of the cells were of the intermediate and B- (fibroblast-like) types. Synovial villi were explanted on Millipore filters and maintained as organ cultures. The intimal cells in contact with the Millipore formed long branched processes which penetrated deeply into the substrate; these cells, which had a very well developed rough endoplasmic reticulum, resembled those of the B-type. The synoviocytes at the upper (free) surface of the villus withdrew their long processes, acquired lamelliform pseudopodia and their endoplasmic reticulum regressed; they were similar in appearance to the A-type. The A- and B- cells apparently represent functional states of the same cell type and that environmental factors determine which form the cells assume.